The Endangerment of Yuki Nagato
by cybersteel5780
Summary: Months after the events in the Disappearance arc, Yuki mysteriously vanishes without a trace. While the SOS Brigade plans to find her, another person is also looking for her, for there is a dire reason for her disappearance. A quest begins in search of Yuki along with new friendships, trust, betrayal and love. Can the SOS Brigade along with this newcomer find Yuki?
1. Prologue

**A/N: After reading and watching **_**The Disappearance**_**, I thought, "What if the DITE took Yuki and what could someone do about it?" Some spoilers are present from the **_**Disappearance**_** and **_**Rampage**_** novels. Please enjoy the story and remember to review. **

**The events expressed in this fiction are those of the author. Characters related to TMOHS belong to Nagaru Tanigawa. All other characters and organizations appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons and organizations, living or dead, is purely coincidental.**

**Rated M for Adult Violence, Themes and Language**

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue: No Choice<strong>

"_You know why you're here, Yuki Nagato?"_

Three people were standing in front of the humanoid interface that was sitting in a chair. Strapped to the chair by her arms and legs, her hands lay flat on a palm reader, which was reading data from the humanoid's brain. Her face lacked expression as she stared at the people hovering over her. The room was very bright white and almost looked large enough to hold a large grocery store, but was actually a small room with a tall ceiling. There were no windows or signs of appearances in the room, just bright white including the chair. If one was to look very close at the ceiling, they could see the vents sticking out. A large screen that was almost a story tall was suspended behind and above the chair, and had a series of data flowing around on the bottom and top along with the image of a man speaking to Yuki. To the corner of the image was the timestamp indicating DECEMBER 21, 2010, 10:17PM. The man hovering over Yuki knew who the man onscreen was; he even knew about the girl, the esper and the time traveler. The following came from the man's voice:

"_If they have any complaints, I will take Haruhi and recreate the world completely. We'll make a world where you're here, but the Integrated Data Sentient Entity doesn't exist. It would be a piece of cake for Haruhi. We will get you back, even if we have to recreate the universe from scratch. Tell that to your boss."_

The image of the man who had spoken froze. The man who was hovering over Yuki, almost 6 feet tall with a medium black razored hairstyle drew his face closer to Yuki. He was angry. "Do you know what will happen if that man gets that girl to recreate the world? Even if he and that girl could recreate the universe, not only would we still exist, we will make _you_ not exist."

Yuki, still with an expressionless face, tilted her head down. "I understand," she said in a monotone voice.

The man arose from being close to her face, his face still showing signs of anger. He was almost on the verge of slapping her but thought against it. She could manage to keep a low profile by following protocol within the Entity, but she had made a terrible decision that could have jeopardized the Entity. In other words, she blew it. The events that happened last winter when she changed the universe to give the man who spoke on the screen a choice at life were against the Entity's orders. She should know, because Ryoko Asakura did the same thing when she tried to kill the same man and went against _her_ orders. It was why Yuki terminated her for going on her own. That man, who he knew as Kyon, would not understand why the Entity made Yuki without emotions. Emotions were a flaw in a humanoid's system and there were still issues of creating humanoid interfaces that wouldn't try drastic measures from having emotions. Now the Entity, rather this man who appeared in charge, made a determination that Yuki herself went on her own against the Entity for her radical decisions and had to suffer the consequences.

"I don't know what you were thinking Yuki," said the man, "But you will serve your punishment for what you did. If that kid has the balls to save you, he has another thing coming."

"..." Yuki didn't say anything but continued to look towards the floor.

He turned to the other man who was standing next to him. "Stay here and watch over her. When I feel the need to terminate her, I'll let you know." The man, dressed as if he was a member of the military nodded, and escorted the man and the woman towards the door out into the corridor. The man closed the door behind him and pressed a hidden button before standing like a vertical statue as the man and woman, more like a couple, were walking down the corridor to another room where they would make contact with a new humanoid interface. She would replace Yuki when the Entity terminated her, but her mission would not be to observe; her mission was to make change. Those said changes meant eliminating certain things... certain _people_.

"Do you think we can put our trust in this girl?" said the man who lowered his voice as he was talking to the woman.

"We should be able to," said the woman, "You don't have to worry about anything. She can do better than what Ryoko and Yuki couldn't do."

* * *

><p>25 feet above from the ground, a man was hiding in the vent as he overheard the man speaking to Yuki about terminating her existence. The man was a mercenary time traveler who had to save Yuki from the Data Integration Thought Entity. There was more to this special mission but right now, he had to get down there and release her before that man did decide to terminate her. Once that man made decisions, they were never withdrawn. The mission so far was somewhat working but he needed assistance in order for it to work. Otherwise, this mission would be a failure, they would terminate Yuki anyway and his life was on the line. He remembered what <strong>they<strong> told him before he began this mission.

_ "You have to assure us that you will save Yuki Nagato. Without her, who knows how that girl will react or better yet, if that guy will do what he says. We are counting on you."_

He overheard the man's voice onscreen and remembered what the boy known as Kyon said. He also knew the personalities of him, the girl known as Haruhi, the esper and the time traveler, and the alien who was strapped in the chair below. Kyon's own words had jeopardized Yuki's safety when he challenged the Entity's boss. If only that kid understood, no one should ever challenge an agency of any kind.

As the man along with his companion and security exited the room, he looked into his sack to grab the magnetic screwdriver and began to unscrew the bolts to the vent so he could sneak down into the room. Luckily, the vents were large enough for him to descend into the room, another fault of the security surrounding the Data Integration Thought Entity. Already in a harness, he looked towards the two people who would help him descend the vent down into the room. Time was very thin, but they had to do this or that guy could come back at any second.

"Alright, let's do this quickly, and don't let go of that rope!" he said. He was putting his trust in these people and had second thoughts about them holding that rope to lower him down. He couldn't prevent what would happen if they let go of that rope.

"Alright, but we have to hurry," said one of them holding the rope.

He positioned himself into the vent and began the 25 foot descent into the room below. With more assistance from his resources, he would be able to get into the room without detection. The room itself had a high advanced alarm system that indicated temperature change by a tenth degree, movement and sounds of all sorts, and color and infrared visibility. He was hoping that device they provided him was working; otherwise, that door should have opened along with men rushing in already but hadn't as he was midway into the room.

The girl in the chair noticed changes in the environment and looked up at the man who was coming in from the vent shaft. He put his finger to his mouth, warning her not to make a sound. He made it to the floor quietly and approached the girl sitting in the chair. He had seen her picture of what she looked like, and quickly got used to her emotionless and expressionless face, even in her large yellow eyes.

"Yuki Nagato?" the man whispered.

It took her a few seconds to respond before saying, "Yes." Her voice sounded strained.

He went into his sack again to get a device resembling that of a motorized screwdriver. The device would kill power and any security systems inside the chair to avoid intrusion. He drilled into the chair, pushed a button, which sent a virus or electrical spike into the chair, and stood up to see if the device did its job. Sure enough, the blue glowing pad where Yuki's hands were on dimed out. His intense hearing indicated that the chair was no longer running on systems. Getting a knife, he cut the straps off her arms and legs and freed her from the chair. But there was a problem. Somehow, the Entity managed to modify Yuki's weight to that of probably beyond a ton. Not able to pick up the heavy girl, he had a device to reduce her weight to normal to move her quickly in case that happened.

"Wait here, we'll get you out of here." the man said.

As he went to turn around to grab another device from his sack, the man and woman along with ten armed men behind them stood in front of the door. He did not hear them come in, and forgot they left the room without making a sound. The man by the door next to the woman stared at the man hard: first with shock, but then recognized him and showed a smirk on his face. "You didn't think you'd get off that easy. This is an advanced facility. Your devices would never outsmart our equipment."

_ Shit. The device didn't work._

The time traveler shielded Yuki, who was still in the chair behind him. The man walked closer to the stranger in front of Yuki and left five feet between them. Determination on the stranger's face began to fade away as he stared at the man.

"Higashiyama... We meet again," said the man.


	2. Book 1:Chapter 1

**Book One: Why Did Yuki Go Away?**

**Chapter 1: No Show**

It had been a few months since the hectic winter vacation and things apparently remained the same as they were in the second Monday of March. Haruhi was still up and going about upcoming events, the beginning of spring break was near and the graduation ceremony was approaching soon. Kyon still felt worn out by Haruhi's antics and wished she had an off button so he could turn her off and rest. With Spring Break near, he knew Haruhi would have something for them to do during the break. On a scale of 1 to 100, relating to the disasters of the last breaks and vacations, he rated well above 150.

The end of class came by and it was time to go. "Come on, Kyon," said the girl who sat behind him. She was already near the door, heading to the clubroom for their typical meeting. Kyon grabbed his things and managed to catch up to Haruhi.

As they were walking to the clubroom, Haruhi was going on about what she would cover in the meeting and managed to compose some ideas to do during Spring Break. Kyon for the moment was starting to do better in his schoolwork but distractions like these typically caused him to fall behind. He was struggling in his schoolwork in the past but with the help of his mother, he was seeing a tutor and so far, he was doing well. However, he would have to put that tutor to the side if Haruhi dragged him into another event.

"So Kyon, what do you think of that?" said Haruhi. Apparently, he wasn't listening to what she said as he thought over about his schoolwork. Instead of having her repeat it over, he simply said with some enthusiasm, "I think it'll work."

"Great! Then we shall do that over the Spring Break!" she responded. He didn't know what she said but as long as it didn't involve Haruhi's mood to sour and put the world at an end, he was stuck participating in whatever event she was talking about.

They made it to the clubroom as Haruhi walked in first followed by Kyon. "Good afternoon! I've prepared tea." That came from Asahina, who was in her maid outfit. The sound of her voice lifted Kyon's spirit. Anytime with Asahina was an enjoyment but Kyon had to make sure not to get distracted by her. As always, Haruhi showed jealousy when Kyon stared at Asahina and questioned him over winter break about Nagato. Haruhi in the past didn't appear to target Nagato for Kyon observing her, but Mikuru had told Kyon not to get too close to her or bad things would happen. Otherwise, Haruhi would just blow it out of proportion and this would sour her mood, which would almost result in damaging consequences.

"Hello." said Koizumi who was already sitting at the table. At first, it looked like he had his typical smiling grin on his face, but today, he wasn't smiling. It didn't get Kyon's attention until he glanced at the corner by the room where Nagato typically sat. Nagato hadn't made it in yet. She would be the first in the clubroom before anyone else but she wasn't there. Maybe something came up or she was running late?

Haruhi sat down and didn't notice Nagato was missing until she glanced at the empty seat by the window. "Mikuru, where's Yuki?" she asked as she sipped her tea.

"I-I don't know," said Asahina, "she hasn't showed up yet."

After waiting for another 30 minutes and Nagato still hadn't shown up, Haruhi decided to go ahead with the meeting and penalize her later for being late. Kyon found out what Haruhi was talking about in the hallway was a list of things she planned to do over break. It was enough to cover the entire break but Kyon started to worry because Haruhi made a list regarding summer break last year and they repeated the same vacation over 15,000 times. And all of it was because Haruhi had never been in a study group and Kyon and the others didn't finish their homework. Kyon made sure his homework was finished ahead of time and later remind the others to finish theirs in case the list wasn't finished and it was déjà vu all over again.

After wrapping up the meeting, Haruhi left as she sought to gather more information and Kyon and Koizumi left so Asahina could change into her school outfit. As they were close to walking out of the school, Kyon noticed that Koizumi was still looking as if something was wrong. He managed to smile while Haruhi was covering her meeting, but his smile faded away again. "Okay, something is wrong and you're not speaking up. What is it?" Kyon said to Koizumi.

Koizumi chuckled. "No, nothing is wrong. I just wonder why Miss Nagato wasn't here today."

"Something may have came up," said Kyon, "It's not like she wouldn't show up tomorrow."

Koizumi didn't respond. That brought up Kyon to ask another question referring to Haruhi. "Have there been any Closed Spaces lately that I should know about?"

"Oh, no. Not for a while, no." said Koizumi. Despite his half smile, he still was looking gloomy. Kyon didn't let it get to him and began to think about Nagato. Nagato had been there last week. Since no one would be able to tell if anything was wrong with her, she wouldn't express it. Kyon recalled that she was with them during their paranormal search over the weekend and nothing was wrong with her then. Maybe she suddenly became sick. If something had came up, she would have told him, Haruhi, or anyone. Kyon shook his head and assumed that Nagato couldn't attend class for whatever reason and split from Koizumi to see the tutor for his schoolwork before going home. Kyon assumed that Nagato would show up tomorrow, as it wouldn't be a big deal to worry about her not showing up. However, nothing would prepare him for the next day of class, for he would later regret about whether Nagato would indeed show up the next day.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Missing Bookworm**

Kyon arrived in class Tuesday morning before Haruhi and sat down at his desk. He was still feeling tired and was about to lay his head down when Haruhi stormed in. "Kyon, get up, I have to talk to you!" said Haruhi. The tone in her voice indicated concern. _What is it now_, Kyon thought. He lifted his head just to get a glance at Haruhi's face before she yanked him up by his tie before taking him out of the room. Her face was showing worry, indicating that something was wrong.

"What is it?" Kyon asked once they got into the hallway as he straightened his tie. His voice sounded as if he was irritated.

"I don't think Yuki is here anymore." Haruhi said.

Kyon became confused. _Nagato isn't here anymore?_ What was she talking about? "Say that again Haruhi?" Kyon said.

"I said Yuki is not here," she responded in a more serious tone, "She's not in class, she wasn't in the clubroom. When I asked her classmates where she was, they acted as if she didn't exist."

Kyon was trying to connect the dots to what Haruhi said but finally got the message after she said Nagato's classmates "acted as if she didn't exist." Nagato wasn't there. And for some reason according to Haruhi, she'd never been there.

Haruhi continued. "I asked her teacher if she had seen Yuki and said she doesn't have Yuki in her class. I thought she was in class 1-4 so I asked again, she checked the record book, and she's not in that classroom."

Kyon tried to pinch himself in the cheek to see if he was dreaming. It wasn't working. With the look of worry and seriousness in Haruhi's voice, she was dead serious.

The bell rung, indicating that class was beginning. As students made their way into class, Kyon approached Haruhi and said, "Look, keep trying after class. I'll help you."

What seemed like eternity between the first bell and lunch ended as the bell rang for lunch. Haruhi jumped up and ran to the office to see if something had happened to Nagato. As she did that, Kyon went over to Koizumi's class. Yesterday, he had shown worry that something was wrong regarding Nagato and wanted to know if he knew anything. He made it to his class just as he was walking out. "Hey Koizumi!" Kyon said

Koizumi turned around to face Kyon. Unlike yesterday, he didn't look gloomy but rather surprised to see Kyon. "Oh, hey Kyon. What is it?"

"Haruhi has tried to look for Nagato. She can't find her. She's also saying that the teacher and the students don't remember Nagato. Is that why you were looking off yesterday?"

Koizumi at first made a confused look but began to scratch his chin. "This can't be good," said Koizumi. As if it was on cue, Koizumi's cell phone rang. Looking at it must have not been any better news as he excused himself from Kyon to answer the phone. Kyon started thinking if Asahina knew anything about this. If she did, she would have said something by now or tried to find Kyon or Koizumi to tell them. Otherwise, as Asahina put it, it was "classified information," meaning she would be useless. As Kyon continued to ponder, Koizumi hung up the phone. His face became more serious. "We got a problem," he said.

Kyon knew _that_ was coming. He sighed. "What is it?"

Koizumi was straightforward. "Because of the worry Miss Suzumiya has for Miss Nagato, she's beginning to create Closed Space. If we don't find Miss Nagato soon, we could have a dire situation on our hands."

With Haruhi worrying about Nagato missing, there was an unbalance in her emotions, which would cause Closed Space. If this "Closed Space" grew, the world was in danger. Furthermore, Kyon would likely have to prevent a disaster since Koizumi and Asahina's organizations would want him to stop it, for he was the only one who Haruhi would take advice from. The only way to prevent Closed Space was to get Haruhi in a better mood.

Koizumi suggested an idea. "Why don't you convince Haruhi that Miss Nagato might come in tomorrow? We have to convince her that Miss Nagato probably wasn't able to show up yesterday and today due to something coming up. It can prevent the Closed Space from growing."

It was a long shot, but Kyon told Koizumi he would try to convince her and went back to the classroom to tell Haruhi. He made it back to the classroom where Haruhi was sitting at her desk, but her hands were on her face and she appeared to be in sorrow. Was she crying?

"Hey Haruhi?" Kyon approached Haruhi.

She looked up at him, almost on the verge of tears. Looking back at the window, she said the following: "Yuki doesn't go to this school anymore. She transferred, and no one knows where she transferred. I don't understand."

The idea of convincing Haruhi that there was a misunderstanding and Nagato would show up tomorrow went out the window once she said that. _Doesn't go here anymore? Transferred?_ For a moment, Kyon didn't know what to do or say. He started to think about his options. Nagato once said if there was ever trouble, he would be the target. That became the case when Ryoko Asakura tried to kill him last year and again during the journey to restore time. He still had to go back in time to fix the unbalance but now wasn't the time for that. If Nagato was gone, would a new enemy appear? As he continued to digress, he started to see the images that were going through his mind. Kyon helping a young Haruhi during the Tanabata festival almost four years ago, his journey during last winter to restore the time period, and that incident inside that mansion when they were on winter vacation and Nagato suffered some kind of breakdown. He had told Haruhi who questioned him about looking at Nagato why he was looking at her and the concern he told Haruhi about her leaving then—.

It hit him... Did Haruhi remember what he said in that mansion regarding Nagato? If it were a premonition, what he told Haruhi—which was something he came up with at the time—was the truth or right now _the_ _truth_. He had to remind her, but with class starting momentary, it would have to wait.

"Haruhi, before we head to the clubroom, I need to talk to you." Kyon said as he sat at his desk.

"What about?" She said in a depressing tone with her hand against her face still looking out the window.

"Haruhi," Kyon said has he touched her arm to get her attention, "I'm serious. We need to talk about something, but it'll have to wait until the end of class. _Trust_ me on this."

Haruhi sighed. "Okay."

Kyon tuned to face the front as Okabe was coming in. He knew what he would do if the Entity took Nagato away and would help Haruhi create havoc if that was the case. But he had to find out if they took her or if someone else had. She didn't believe him before when he told her about the existence of Nagato, Koizumi and Asahina. If he told her about the Tanabata festival when he helped her as a young one, would she believe him then? It was a risk either way. He and Haruhi could create havoc and recreate the universe to save Yuki, or do nothing if it got to Haruhi's mood and the world ended.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Truth Hurts**

A man was standing near the front gate to North High as some students were walking out. It was the end of the day and he was waiting for at least the boy known as Kyon and the girl known as Haruhi to appear. After 20 minutes, he hadn't seen them and looked again at the photos in his hand of both of them. He knew what they looked like, where they lived; even knew their families. Of course, he hadn't met their families, but this was all the data **they** gave him before he started this mission. With some students loitering around the front, he could sneak in and try to find them. With no security around, and disguised as a student in gym apparel, he could get in. He looked young enough, even close to handsome as two girls walked by as they looked at him and smiled, their cheeks lightly blushing. He looked at his watch to check the time: 3:17pm. His watch wasn't just a watch, it was his device to transport him and anyone else he took with him between time periods. It had the makings of a very expensive watch, only this one was custom made by himself: Analog and digital time, built in compass, time zone tracking, GPS, and a built in phone. The technology in this time period had a long way before this watch would exist. It even had special powers built within, but it only worked when the watch was on him. And he couldn't lose the watch either. He almost did lose it once on a mission and had to do harm to a man who stole it.

He placed the photos of Kyon and Haruhi into the schoolbag next to him, which stored more highly advanced technologic equipment and began to walk towards the school. He had to be careful. No one could look into that bag. He even had to avoid the authorities from questioning him about the bag.

He entered the school and began searching for the clubroom in which Haruhi created last year as a club for mysterious people to join. It didn't take him long to find it as it was on the third floor of the cultural department and the first door on the left from the stairs. If he was in a hurry, he could go in and introduce himself while explaining his existence, but thought about it once he approached the door. Otherwise, he would have to wait until tomorrow when he came in as a student of North High and then join. He knew Haruhi dragged the time traveler known as Mikuru Asahina and the esper known as Itsuki Koizumi into the club. If he was around tomorrow, Haruhi might see him and add him to the group. But if she was feeling the pressure due to a missing student, he had to go in now. Either way led to the first stage but there wasn't enough time to get friendly with everyone. In the time period of where he was now, he had three days to get them—Kyon and Haruhi—to help him get Yuki. Three days is what he would have said as a diversion to get them to join him. By now, they should know that Yuki is missing.

He approached the door and put his face close to the wall dividing the hallway and the clubroom to eavesdrop. With keen hearing, he could hear everything through the thin wall as if the girl in the room was talking to him in his face. They were talking about Yuki in the clubroom right now.

"I can't believe she gone! Why would she leave?" Haruhi said angrily.

Kyon was sitting at the table across from Asahina as they listened to Haruhi about changing their plans and made a mission to find Yuki. Asahina, who was in her school uniform, just stared at Haruhi while she spoke and gave her point to Haruhi's question. Koizumi would have attended the meeting, but had to leave early for work. Kyon knew why: The Closed Space was growing and would have gotten worse but Haruhi's anger began to subside. Koizumi had confronted Kyon before he left to ask him what he did to make Haruhi very angry. After telling him what he told her about Nagato (he didn't tell him about reminding Haruhi who Asahina and Koizumi were and the Tanabata festival), Koizumi shook his head and ran off. If the world still exists after this, Koizumi probably would have argued with Kyon for being out of character, and Kyon wouldn't blame him. Earlier, he tried to tell Haruhi about why Nagato may have left, but he had to tell her again about Nagato's existence and her mission. He also had to remind her about causing the havoc she told him when they were in that mansion, along with past details he once told her at the café. The words didn't set well with Haruhi and she went ballistic. He still remembered the scene earlier as he played it back in his mind.

* * *

><p>"<em>What do you mean she's not human? Kyon, what are you talking about?"<em>

Haruhi and Kyon were up by the doors to the roof, the same area where Haruhi dragged Kyon up to that one time when discussing about creating the clubroom.

"Haruhi, like I told you in the café last year, Nagato is an alien, humanoid interface," Kyon said, "She _may _be human but she's not, okay? I think this agency she works for may have taken her or someone else has. I lied to you about her parents because she doesn't have parents. Someone may have taken her away and she didn't tell—. "

Haruhi had enough. He was stammering over his words and it was making her head explode. She grabbed him by the collar and bought his face close to hers. "Don't lie to me Kyon! Just... Don't!" Haruhi said, her voice getting louder.

"Dammit Haruhi!" Kyon said as he tried to free himself from Haruhi's clutches, "_I'm telling you the truth!_ You wanted to know why I was looking at Nagato. I told you everything I know! How was I supposed to know she would transfer out of the blue?"

She stared into his eyes for a few seconds before finally letting go. She crossed her arms again and formed a stern look. "I can't believe you. You want me to believe that Nagato isn't human and that she's an 'alien, humanoid interface?' That some Entity thing or someone would take her away because of something she did last year? You want me to _still_ believe that Mikuru is a time traveler and that Koizumi is an esper?" She paused when she continued about the Tanabata festival. How could he had help her almost three in a half years ago? Matter of fact, how did he know anything about it? "That couldn't have been you who helped me during Tanabata. It wasn't you. Whoever helped me graduated long ago. H-He may have went here b-but... _I-It's not you!_"

Haruhi stood there in shock and faced the stairs. She closed her eyes while covering her mouth with her hand. Kyon thought he noticed a tear leave her eye and go down her face. Maybe he had done the wrong thing by telling her about Nagato, the others, and the Tanabata festival. He had told her that he would help Haruhi create havoc if Nagato did disappear. She hadn't said anything about that yet. What he had told her so far set her off and made her very upset. _If she only could look at the details before blowing things out of proportion, _Kyon thought. _Haruhi, I wish you could understand_, _but you have to listen to me. _He had to get her to calm down or Koizumi would be angry with him for allowing it. He was probably angry anyway at Kyon for telling Haruhi about Nagato. He may not have shown it the first time when he told Haruhi back at the café last year, but he would with the dire situation occurring now.

"Haruhi, I—" Kyon begin but Haruhi interrupted him.

"What?" Haruhi snapped. She finally showed her face to where there was no tear mark flowing down her cheek, but she had the same face that time when Kyon almost hit her. "What are you going to say now?"

Kyon looked down to gather himself. He hadn't seen Haruhi this angry since the time he almost hit her during the filming of the movie. He didn't know how she'd forgive him. Right now, he was expecting Haruhi to slap him or avoid him for the rest of the school year. "What are you going to do now that Nagato is missing? I'd help you find Nagato but you can't do it by yourself," said Kyon as he made a sigh, "Even if you don't want to believe me, we have to find her. That's why I need your help."

Haruhi just stared at Kyon. The stern look she had earlier faded as she sighed heavily. "I'm not doing this by myself! You're helping me!" she said as she got close to his face, "And I won't believe you! Do you remember what I told you that time at the café? The only way for aliens, time travelers and espers to exist is to _capture_ them. They're not _standing_ around! Understand?"

Kyon nodded. Haruhi was about to say something else when she realized how long they had been up there. She grabbed his tie, yelled "Come on, we got to get to the clubroom and find Yuki," and dragged him to the clubroom to start the meeting.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Unknown Student**

Kyon continued to think about what he had said and done to Haruhi as they were in that clubroom now. She was still talking about how they were going to find Yuki and he hadn't said anything but kept quiet since she was in charge. _What the hell was I thinking,_ he thought. Kyon still felt regret for speaking, rather arguing to Haruhi about Nagato. He didn't know what it would take for Haruhi to believe or listen to him for just once. There was a lot Haruhi needed to know that could possibly change her personality and open her mind, but she continued to float around in denial and not believe anything Kyon told her.

After giving the details about how they would find Yuki, and getting approval from Asahina and Kyon, she dismissed the group and set out to leave. But before she could get her bag and storm out the door, someone was knocking at the door.

Haruhi along with Asahina and Kyon looked towards the door. Did Koizumi forget something when he left? Was it Nagato? They could see the shadow beyond the windowed door. It looked to be a woman with long hair but didn't look like it was Koizumi or Nagato. Maybe it was someone from the Student Council with information regarding Nagato, or were they here to bother Haruhi about the brigade? Either way, Haruhi didn't want to be bothered with whoever was at the door and she was still upset from Kyon's babble earlier. "Come in!" Haruhi said.

The door opened. In the doorway stood a man about five to six feet with long hair and was in a gym outfit. He had a schoolbag in his right hand and a large watch on his left arm. He had some stubble on his chin and his brown eyes appear to glow from the reflection of the window. He looked to be an upperclassman, and they were unsure if he was indeed Japanese or from somewhere else. Haruhi stood there by the desk froze as she glanced at the man. Kyon showed astonishment in his face. Asahina stared at the man but her face started to show worry, which got Kyon's attention. _Did she know who this guy was, _Kyon thought.

The man looked at the faces that were in the clubroom. Pictures never told the true accuracy of human figures. The girl at the other end of the room was short and had a yellow ribbon in her shoulder length hair. He saw the picture of Haruhi Suzumiya as a young one when she did have long hair. In his opinion, he preferred girls with longer hair but she would do. To her left sitting at the desk staring at him was Kyon and the girl with the reddish orange hair to Haruhi's right who was looking funny at him was Mikuru Asahina. He stared at her in astonishment and remembered why she was here. Her job was to investigate the time quake that "supposedly" Haruhi caused. She would be in the way if she tried to interfere. So would that other person that wasn't there: the esper known as Itsuki Koizumi. Maybe he was out in Closed Space fighting the so-called monsters due to Haruhi's mood.

"Hi," began the man at the doorway, "Sorry if I'm intruding late but I transferred here today and was interested in club activities. I heard that this club is interested in paranormal stuff and wondered if you had room for a new member? I also need help."

Kyon looked at Haruhi. They were concerned about why Yuki would suddenly transfer from North High, and now here was a student who wanted to join the SOS Brigade at a bad time. And did he just say he transferred here in March? It was kind of late for anyone to transfer in this part of the semester. Kyon looked at him and thought he hadn't recognized this person in the doorway. Matter of fact, he didn't see this guy when he came to class. A few students were tall that attended North High, but this guy was almost as tall as the door. And his Japanese was clear. He glanced over at Asahina and noticed how she was still looking at him suspiciously. Kyon began to wonder why she was looking concerned. Kyon glanced back at Haruhi again, who for some reason was still standing there looking shocked. Was there something about this guy that made girls suspicious and attractive?

Haruhi didn't want to bother with this man who just came into the room, but something about him made her slightly interested. Still concerned about what happened to Nagato, Haruhi broke the silence and forced a smile. "I-I'm sorry. Yes, you can join. But what's your case and how can we help you?"

"Well," the man said as he entered the room and closed the door behind him, "I was wondering if _you_ could help me. See, I have a problem where I'm looking for someone and need assistance finding them. Since this group would be of interest, I came here."

Kyon and Haruhi looked at each other before turning back to look at him. Kyon had thoughts. They didn't have time to find whoever this guy was looking for, and his main concern was Nagato's safety. This guy had to find someone else to help him find whoever "who" was, but he wondered what Haruhi would do.

Haruhi stared at the man. Her forced smile earlier had disappeared. Sure, they did a similar investigation before when it came to the disappearance of the Computer Society president, but that was when all of her brigade members were present. Now with Nagato missing and planning to find her for why she had to transfer without telling anyone, she didn't have time to deal with someone else's problems. But this guy did show interest in joining her group. Maybe to find whoever he was looking for, he could assist them in helping them find Nagato.

Mikuru finally spoke up, but she had to get out of the room. And there was a reason why. "U-Uh, M-Miss Suzumiya? I-I have to go now, so if the meetings over, c-can I go?" She was stuttering over her words and this made Kyon concerned. Kyon knew something was wrong with her the moment the man came in and was going to say something when Haruhi broke in.

"Sure, if you want to go, that's fine." Haruhi said.

Relieved to hear that, Asahina quickly collected her bag and ran out of the room as if she was in a hurry to catch something. She shut the door to run off but it slammed as she left.

Haruhi and Kyon looked at each other again for Mikuru's rapid departure but the man looked at the door with a smile. What Haruhi and Kyon didn't know was that the man before them knew Asahina and the organization she worked for. He had issues with her organization and she would be in the way along with that other guy that wasn't in the room now. Now that she left, it was him, Haruhi and Kyon. With no time to waste, he began to tell them the real reason why he was there.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Existence of Makoto**

The man took Asahina's seat as she left out in a hurry and got comfortable. He sat the bag under the chair and stretched his arms out on the table. "It looks like your friend had an emergency," he said.

"Sorry about Mikuru," Haruhi replied, "I don't know why she had to leave so quickly."

"No problem." He said. He cleared his throat and was about to speak before Kyon quickly raised his hand to ask a question. "I-I'm sorry, but, who are you?" Kyon asked nervously. Because Kyon didn't know who this guy was and with Nagato missing, was this the enemy he would have to deal with? Plus, what made this man cause Asahina to leave in such a rush?

The man bowed his head and showed a smile, one that didn't annoy Kyon. "Sorry, I'm Makoto."

"Okay Makoto," began Haruhi. She liked his name. "I'm Har—"

He put his palm in the air to stop her. "No names. You haven't let me talk just yet. I have a lot to say, but I need to ask you guys a question."

"Sure." She said as she sat at the corner of her desk.

The man known as Makoto moved forward in his chair. He took a moment before he started to talk. "I need to know that you guys will help me with this, because this is a problem I cannot do on my own. And the person I am looking for has very close connections. _She_... has a very close connection to me and many people, and it's important that I find her. Do you understand me so far?"

So far, what they got out of Makoto was he was looking for someone... a girl. And this girl meant something to him and to other people. Kyon noticed he expressed the word "she" when he was talking, like he and Haruhi knew who "she" was. Was he talking about a girlfriend, sister or wife? Or was he talking about…?

"I understand you. So, who is this girl Makoto?" Haruhi asked, taking the last sip from her cup.

He stared at Haruhi and Kyon, and then went to stand up. As he stood out of his chair, it made Kyon nervous. Haruhi continued to stare at him as she kept the teacup in her hands. She wondered if he got uncomfortable from sitting that he had to stand up. But that's when he said the sentence: The one that made Kyon's heart jump and caused Haruhi's eyes to get big.

"I am looking for Yuki Nagato."

* * *

><p>Koizumi came back from the city after fighting the Shinjins in Closed Space. It was a dangerous battle that he and the other espers had never been in a long time. Luckily, Haruhi's anger had settled in the end and they were able to defeat the Shinjins. But he wasn't concerned about the battle in Closed Space, he was more disappointed in Kyon. Kyon knew he shouldn't get Haruhi angry, and by arguing with her about Nagato almost would have brought the world at an end. If he made it back to school tomorrow, he sure would have a serious argument with Kyon for being a damn fool.<p>

As he was approaching his residence, he heard his name call out from behind him. "Koizumi!" He turned around to find Asahina running up to him, looking tired and out of breath. _Did she just run all the way over here,_ he thought. "Miss Asahina?" Koizumi responded. He noticed the seriousness in her face and that something was wrong.

She finally caught up to him and took a breath before saying, "Koizumi. You have to come back with me to the school. Right now."

Koizumi was confused. Why did she want him to run back to the school? Did something happen to Haruhi, or did Haruhi and Kyon get into another argument? He was thinking of the ladder.

"What is it, Miss Asahina?" Koizumi asked, slightly becoming concerned.

"Have you heard about that myth of the man that travels from time periods to do missions and is a mercenary?" Asahina responded.

Koizumi knew little of it but heard a myth about a man who worked for unknown organizations and engaged in missions that made him enter different time periods over time. Many in his organization would call the man a myth; some hardly believe that the man doesn't exist. One man at the Agency once told Koizumi that he is a dire threat to present organizations such as his and Asahina's, along with the Data Integration Thought Entity.

"I think I may have," said Koizumi, "Why? What's wrong?"

"He's here!" said Asahina, her tone becoming serious. "He came into the clubroom and said he was looking for someone. He wants us to help him find this person and I think he's looking for Yuki. You need to come with me to stop him. My organization warned me that he is a dire threat to Haruhi. Who knows what he is capable of."

Referring to the man known as Makoto, she learned that Makoto became a mercenary when he ditched her organization due to violating strict protocol. From what Asahina remembered, Makoto left before she became a member of the organization. Time travelers gave an oath never to depart from the organization but Makoto broke it when he vanished during the investigation of an incident in an earlier time period, and never reported back to the organization. When several high-ranking officials—superiors of her organization—tried to locate Makoto, they were unable to find him. However, there was a rumor that one of the superiors did eventually find Makoto, but after an escalation in which Makoto wounded that official, he escaped. Because he violated the oath, not to mention attacking a high-ranking official, her organization determined that Makoto was a threat of the organization and a threat to any time period. Because he was in this time period now according to Asahina's organization, that made him a dire threat for Haruhi and everyone else. Her organization didn't give her specific information on Makoto but said he moved on to work for separate organizations for unknown causes.

Koizumi sighed and pulled out his phone to contact the Agency. He warned them of the possible threat of the man to Haruhi and they confirmed it with him. After sharing more information over the phone, he hung up and approached Asahina. "My organization is looking into it. Let's go."

He and Asahina quickly walked back in a hurried pace to the school to confront the man. The Agency told Koizumi who the man was and that he would try to get Kyon and Haruhi to assist him in a mission. However, his organization was against this, for they didn't know if it was an attempt to trick Haruhi and Kyon in helping him and then do harm. If he did any harm to Haruhi that was severe, it would instantly result in the world ending. Both Koizumi and Asahina had to interfere. They still had to help Haruhi find Nagato and information on her whereabouts was still slim.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Intervention**

Haruhi's face glowed to resemble shock as she gasped, dropping the cup onto the floor which shattered. Kyon leaned back in his chair with a shocked expression as if he was having a heart attack. The man before them had just said the following words: "_I am looking for Yuki Nagato."_ Here was this man who asked them to join their club, then claimed his relation to Nagato and he was asking _them_ to help _him_ find their friend. Haruhi and Kyon glanced at each other before Kyon rose out of his chair. "Wait, you know her?"

Makoto nodded. "Technically, I don't know her, but there is more to this story on how I do know her. Please sit." He motioned his right hand to have Kyon sit back down. Kyon obeyed and sit down and moved closer to the table. Haruhi moved quickly from her corner of the desk to sit closer to Makoto. She stared at him hard like a detective interrogating a suspect. "How do you know Yuki?" Haruhi asked.

"Are you ready for this?" Makoto asked Haruhi. Haruhi thought about it before nodding her head. He didn't see it in her face. "Say it. Tell me you're ready for this and you will believe what I'll tell you."

She glanced over to Kyon before looking back at Makoto. "I'm ready for this and I'll believe what you'll tell me." Haruhi responded.

He looked at them, made a deep sigh, and began talking.

"I didn't tell you my whole name. My name is Makoto Higashiyama and I am a mercenary time traveler." Haruhi's eyes widened. "Although I said I am looking for Yuki, my mission is to save Yuki Nagato from the Data Integration Thought Entity, also known as the Data Overmind." Kyon's eyes widened. "Even though I said I would want to join this club, I cannot join as I wouldn't last long in this time period. But that's not why I came here. I have details on Yuki's disappearance and because you two are the closest to her, I can only talk to you." he said as he stared at Haruhi and Kyon.

"Last year on the night of December 21, 2010, Yuki told Kyon that she would be punished for going against the Entity for alternating the universe. This in turn made Kyon tell her that he would do anything to get her back, even if you and Kyon had to create chaos to get her back. But you wouldn't have known Haruhi, because you didn't know what was going on." Kyon and Haruhi's eyes blinked. _How did he know our names,_ Kyon thought. "I sensed earlier that you were upset and it is not only because Yuki is missing, but the anger is towards Kyon. You shouldn't be angry at Kyon. Any anger towards him is unnecessary, but he told Yuki that night is the reason why she is missing." He turned to address Kyon. "Kyon, you challenged the Entity when you said you and Haruhi would cause havoc in this universe and attempt to recreate it where Yuki exist, but the Entity does not. Unfortunately, even if you recreate the universe, Yuki will still not exist. The Entity will remain, but they will terminate her. And because of that, Yuki is missing because you challenged her boss. Her boss took that as an opportunity to take her away from this time period. I hate to tell you this kid, but your own words were used against you for challenging an organization with a tyrant boss. There is a way to destroy the Data Overmind and keep Yuki alive, but that's another long story and I'll tell both of you later. But for right now, Yuki is in danger. And time is already tight as it is. I have three more days to find her. If we don't do anything or three days go by," he paused before lowering his head, "they will kill Yuki."

Haruhi sat in her chair slightly slumped, her face revealing shock. Again, she looked to be on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe what he had just said. She knew what Kyon told her earlier in the stairway involving Nagato and why she may have left, but this man had said the same thing, only in more disturbing detail. _Yuki's life was in danger, and it was Kyon's fault for it, _Haruhi thought. She looked at Kyon with the same face she had when they were arguing. "Kyon... You caused Yuki to go away? H-How—"

Haruhi misunderstood what Makoto said. "Haruhi, you're blaming the wrong person. It's Kyon's fault for _challenging_ the Entity, but it's not his fault for Yuki going away. I didn't know the Entity was capable of doing this. Matter of fact, the people I work for didn't think the Entity were capable of doing that."

Speechless, Kyon looked down at the table. He knew what he told Nagato that night back in December what he would do if the Entity took her, but he didn't expect them to take her away just because of what he said. "So they took her away because I challenged them?"

Makoto nodded. "Yes. They are expecting you to do what you said you will do, but you won't win. _They_ will. And I'm here to prevent that. But I'll need your help along with Haruhi. If you think you could fight against this organization to get Yuki back and win, you're dead wrong." He moved on to tell Kyon what he knew about him. "I understand that you've been though a lot Kyon. The past year may have made you a believer or a doubter, but I need you to believe. I'm assuming you've tried to tell Haruhi in the past but she doesn't believe you. And judging by her tone earlier, I'd assume you two had an argument and she still doesn't believe you."

Haruhi stood up, pushing the chair back. Her posture indicated she was nervous. It seemed that Makoto also knew a lot about her and this made her feel uncomfortable. "Wait! What do you know about me?" Haruhi demanded, sounding like she made a challenge against him.

Makoto looked at Haruhi. He knew everything, but he couldn't tell her as much. "I know a lot. I know what you wanted about four years ago and it's right there in front of you, and you just don't see it. You're quick to deny but you're not willing to accept. But I'll challenge you to a question. Do you want to believe?"

Haruhi stood there like a vertical statue that couldn't move. She looked at Kyon with a puzzled look on her face. _Was this a prank? An excuse to anger me more, _she thought. Kyon was looking at her the same way with an identical face. She looked back at Makoto and said, "Make me believe."

Before he could say anything else, the door opened revealing Asahina and Koizumi. Makoto turned around to see the duo in the doorway. Asahina had a serious and more profound look on her face and Koizumi looked angry. _Oh shit,_ Makoto thought. Kyon was surprised to see them, but the look on their faces was making him uncomfortable. Haruhi glanced over to see Asahina looking dead serious. Of the time she knew Asahina, she had never seen her like this.

Koizumi was quick to speak, and his tone had changed completely. "Makoto, what are you doing here? You know you're a threat to Haruhi. You shouldn't be here!"

Asahina broke in. "Get away from them! You know you're not supposed to be here Makoto!"

Asahina and Koizumi began to surround him as Koizumi stood by the door and Asahina moved to the corner. If there was going to be a fight soon, these three would be in it. But wait... Kyon was wondering how did they know _his_ name?

Makoto chuckled, his tone of voice remained the same as he spoke to Haruhi and Kyon. "_I'm not supposed to be here?_ Says who, you?" He addressed Koizumi. "A member of yours is in danger and you're telling me I can't be here. I'm already here. What are you going to do about it, fight me?"

"We are aware of the situation and we'll handle it," said Koizumi, "For now, you need to leave. We don't need your help."

"Like the hell you do! You really think it'll be easy to find Nagato? I don't think you'll be able to find her than I can."

"Hey Koizumi, what are you—?" Kyon was attempting to interfere but Koizumi snapped at him. "Stay out of this Kyon!" Kyon quickly shut up. He didn't know how to react. He was annoyed at Koizumi for many reasons, but Koizumi snapping at him was something he hadn't expect. And what was up with Asahina? Why was she acting this way?

"Makoto, whatever you're here for, just go," said an angry Asahina, "We can't accept your help! And you know why they banished you from the organization. So leave, please!" Kyon started to think. _Asahina's organization banished him. Wait, is that why she ran off... He used to work with Asahina's organization?_

Makoto tilted his head. "Well if you want me to leave," Makoto said as he touched his watch with his index finger from his right hand and then touched the palm of his left hand in the middle with the same finger, "Make me leave, Itsuki." It was a strange act, but one that Koizumi wouldn't expect later. And Kyon was wondering how _he_ knew Koizumi's name.

Challenged by Makoto's posture, Koizumi attempted to force Makoto out of the room and tried to grab him but before he got close to him, Makoto stretched his left hand out towards Koizumi's neck. What happened next was hard to describe, but as he touched Koizumi's neck with the palm of his hand, there was a faint sound of electricity. Koizumi reacted by grunting and clutched his neck with his hands. He stumbled backwards before falling on the ground with a deafening thud. He was breathing and tried to get back up but he couldn't. It appeared he was stunned by what looked like a taser that came out of Makoto's left palm.

Haruhi, Kyon and Asahina who witnessed the scene in front of them widened her eyes and their jaws dropped. They just saw a man taze Koizumi with his left hand. They were wondering how he managed to do that.

Asahina ran across the room to grab the tea tray and went to hold it like a bat. Haruhi still stood there stunned as she grabbed the tray. Kyon tried to get up but Makoto signaled him to sit down. "Don't make me do this, Makoto!" she demanded.

He looked at her with a dirty grin. He made a move towards Asahina to get her to swing the tray. Sure enough, she tried to swing but the tray flew over her head behind her to the right, ricocheting off the wall before landing on the floor. He had knocked the aluminum tray out of her hands with his right fist.

Asahina's eyes widened and she switched from anger to a state of shock. Makoto could hear her breathing hard as if she was having a panic attack. He walked closer to her until he hovered over her. "Tsk Tsk Tsk," he clicked his tongue as he waved his index finger, "That was a stupid thing to do Mikuru." And with that, the same finger he waved, he touched Asahina's chest. The same sound of electricity came from his finger and Asahina yelped before falling down to the ground.

Kyon jumped out of his chair in shock and ran over to Asahina. Like Koizumi, Asahina was breathing and could not move. He knew Haruhi would be upset for watching him protect Asahina but that wasn't important now. He was trying to figure out what was going on. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!" he screamed as he tried to comfort Asahina.

Haruhi joined him after checking on Koizumi and tried to get Asahina to speak. "Mikuru! Say something Mikuru!" She scrunched her face before screaming at Makoto, "WHY DID YOU DO THIS?"

Makoto laid out his hands as if to apologize. "_I had no choice!_ Besides, they'll live. I'm not the enemy here. It's one of my powers. If someone is to charge me, I don't only fight with fists or kung fu, I stun them!"

Asahina and Koizumi had blown his cover, and he overreacted when he stunned them. That wasn't part of his plan. He had thought on how to get Haruhi and Kyon away from Asahina and Koizumi and had the perfect chance to do so earlier. But when Mikuru and Itsuki interfered, his plan failed. He would have cooperated, but he wouldn't have let Koizumi grab onto him to force him out of the clubroom. As for stunning them, this was one of the powers in the watch. Once touched, he could transfer the power to his other hand and have a sort of stun gun power while using his hands and or fingers. The power could be strong, but by dabbing, he concealed enough to knock them out. Any longer, and the outcome would have been worse.

He could have waited until tomorrow to act, but had to act now with the current situation. Frustrated, he stormed over to the bag that was under the seat and draped it over his shoulder. He returned to the angry faces of Kyon and Haruhi, who were still comforting Asahina. Asahina was trying to speak, but her throat was dry, preventing her from getting any words out of her mouth. Makoto's voice was now serious as he got into Haruhi's face. "Haruhi, you told me to make you believe and I did. I am a time traveler and I have powers. Now if you don't mind, your friend is in danger. If you want to believe more, you'll come with me. Or else, Yuki will be dead in three days. _Make your decision!_"

Kyon remembered what Makoto said earlier about what would happen to Yuki in the next three days if he could not find her, but was this guy serious? Kyon sternly looked up at Makoto. He understood he had to defend himself but to do harm to Asahina made him mad. He didn't know if he could forgive him about what he had done. He could have cared less for Koizumi than Asahina, but he had to focus on what was going on now. Kyon dropped the look and asked Makoto one last question. "What are our chances of us—of you helping us find Yuki?"

"Very high, but time is already running out!" Makoto yelled as he walked towards the door. He turned around just to see them still clutching to Asahina as they both had a puzzled look while staring at him. _Did they want to save their friend or not, _Makoto thought. "Make your choice! Either Yuki lives or the Entity will have their way. NOW MOVE IT!"

Kyon and Haruhi had no choice but to obey him, grab their things, and follow him. Kyon said a prayer for Asahina and caught up to Makoto and Haruhi who were already midway down the stairs. He noticed as he was leaving that the argument had spread down the hallway as some students were standing outside their clubrooms looking confused. For all he knew, everyone within the entire building could hear that argument.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Present Escape**

Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi were walking down the hill towards the station: Makoto in front, Kyon behind him to the left and Haruhi behind Kyon to the right. The road they were on that headed towards the station at the bottom of the hill was dangerous and would soon have authorities crawling all over it. As they left the school, Makoto noticed a student calling the emergency line and appeared to stare at him when they left. He had to get Kyon and Haruhi in a safe area and away from this time period. He knew of an abandoned house he saw on his hike up the hill and decided that would be the best place to time travel, but he had to get there fast. If the authorities were involved and managed to stop him, his mission would fail. He made sure to listen to the environment for approaching sirens in the event they'd have to ditch the road and shortcut through the neighborhood. He glanced over at his shoulder at Haruhi to make sure she wouldn't run away and was still following him.

Haruhi looked down as he stared at her. She looked confused and her mind was puzzled with questions. This man wanted to join their group, but changed his mind and then knew about Yuki, along with telling her and Kyon his existence. Yuki was in danger and he wanted their help, but when Koizumi and Asahina intervened, he stunned them. She was trying to input what Mikuru said earlier about how her organization banished him. If there was another organization Mikuru belonged to, why didn't Haruhi know? She worried about Nagato, that this "Entity" could kill her if they didn't get to her in time. She recalled what Kyon told her last winter about the situation with Nagato's family and wondered if her family was the same people. But then again, Kyon said Nagato didn't have parents. She sighed and resorted to a melancholic state. Too much was going on, and it starting to make her have a headache.

Kyon was close to Makoto and observed him stomping more than walking down the hill. He was still mad at him for what he did to Asahina. There could have been an alternate way to stop Asahina from hitting him with the tea tray, but tazing her bothered him. It wasn't right to leave Asahina and Koizumi in that clubroom. If any students told anyone what happened in that clubroom and saw Kyon and Haruhi leave with the man and do nothing, they would be in serious trouble. Although he was worried about the danger Nagato was in, he was worried about Haruhi who didn't believe him earlier about Nagato, but was shocked after learning what Makoto said about her in disturbing detail.

Makoto on the other hand was angry: Not because what he did earlier to the time traveler and the esper, but because of what they said earlier by blowing his cover. "_You know you're a threat to Haruhi."_ That came from Itsuki. Why did he say he was a threat to Haruhi, and where was his evidence that proved he was a threat? Whoever in the hell came up with that, Makoto would remember to find them and ask why was he indeed a threat._ "You know you're not supposed to be here Makoto!"_ That came from Mikuru. He didn't ask for this mission. Makoto didn't know that Mikuru was in this time period on that so called investigation of the Haruhi time quake. Nonetheless, their friend was in danger, but Mikuru and Itsuki would rather follow the words of their organizations and act as if they would do something, but they didn't or wouldn't know what to do.

"Look," Makoto began, "I'm sorry for what I did to your friends, but they gave me no choice. I also lied. I said I needed help in finding Yuki but I know where she is because I told you who abducted her. So I need you guys to help _me_ in order to save Yuki."

Kyon looked at him. "Look, I would want you to help us find Nagato, but why do we need to help you? And what happened back there in the clubroom between you, Miss Asahina and Koizumi?"

He scoffed when Kyon called Mikuru "_Miss Asahina."_ "I need your help because it'll take more than one person to save her. My mission is to save Yuki but it's not a one man's job. I need people that were close to her to help me. That's where you and Haruhi fit into the picture. As for what happened back in the clubroom, you tell me. Apparently, I know Mikuru but I didn't think she would consider me as a threat, and I think I know why."

"Then why would she consider you a threat? Koizumi also considered you as a threat." Kyon asked.

Makoto sighed. He was becoming irritated at Kyon's string of questions. He knew why Asahina might have considered him as a threat, but it wasn't her that said that fabricated statement. "Me and Asahina have history, more than you know Kyon. I used to work for her organization but I got tired of observing. Something happened when I was with her organization that I can't tell you. Other than that, I wanted more in my life so I ditched them to seek out my own opportunities. As for that other kid, I didn't know him as much and I don't know why he also considered me as a threat. All he had to do was be nice."

Makoto continued walking and glanced over his right shoulder again to check if Haruhi was still there. Still following him, she continued to look confused. He also took note to see if any students from the school were following them and didn't see anybody. There was a faint sound of sirens coming from the bottom of the hill and he climbed over the guardrail towards the bushes on the other side of the street. Surprised at the change of sudden direction, Kyon and Haruhi followed him towards the bushes. He stopped after entering an area of bushes that blocked their view from the street and turned around to face Haruhi. "Haruhi, why don't you ask me a question? I know something is on your mind. Speak up."

"First, where are you taking us? Second, who is Yuki to you? I learned from Kyon that she has family. Are you a family member of hers? And lastly, who do you work for?" Haruhi responded.

A very strict girl, but she had too many questions. Makoto regretted asking what was on her mind. "Come on." He directed them through the bushes and told them to walk straight as he heard the sirens grow louder. With them in the bushes, it would be difficult for anyone to see them. He noticed Haruhi was walking with her arms crossed with an envious look. He went ahead to answer her questions. "To answer your questions Haruhi, I am taking you to a place where we can time travel. There are other places but this is closer. Secondly, I have no relation to Yuki. I'm just a stranger trying to save someone. And for who I work for, I could gladly tell you that, but I can't. Don't ask me why, I just can't. But I can tell you soon."

Two police cars and two ambulances zipped by as they headed towards the school. For a second, Kyon thought they would have stopped but they raced up the hill in a desperate attempt to get Asahina and Koizumi to take them to a hospital, and probably find who Makoto was. As they were entering a thicker area of thorn bushes, the spikes were scratching Haruhi's legs. It was irritating Haruhi. "Ow! Do we have to go this way? Ow!"

"Sadly, yes." Makoto said as a matter-of-factly.

They managed to find the abandoned place Makoto had in mind: an old house. The past tenants of the house bordered the windows and doors. He kicked in the board that replaced the back door and signaled for Kyon and Haruhi to come in. Kyon followed in but Haruhi stood put. "Why here?" she asked, "I'm not going in there."

Makoto sighed. "Sorry Haruhi, but if you want to see how I time travel, this is the place to do it. Besides, I thought you wanted to believe."

Haruhi still had her arms crossed and formed a stern look. "That was before you attacked Koizumi and Mikuru. How can I trust you?" She then addressed Kyon. "How do I know you're up to something?"

Makoto now understood why Haruhi was a pain in the ass to Kyon. "Look, there's a difference between attacking and restraining someone. Koizumi told you I was a dire threat. I don't know where he got that accusation. I've told you what I know and why I'm here and I need you to trust me on this."

"How do you know _us_?" Haruhi challenged, "You still haven't told me about what you know about _me_." She was killing Makoto's time by asking reluctant questions. He tried to motion for her to walk into the building but she continued to stand there and shake her head no.

"Kyon, come out here." Makoto said in a forceful tone. Kyon came out of the building and stood next to Makoto. He observed that Haruhi wasn't going to go in until she got her questions answered. Makoto would have to go against what **they** told him not to say to Haruhi. In order to get her through that door, he had to tell her what he knew about her. Otherwise, she would continue to be a pain in his ass and waste his time along with jeopardizing Yuki's life. He crossed his arms. "What have you told Haruhi about her personality?"

Kyon thought it was a complicated question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what have you told her about who Itsuki, Mikuru and Yuki really are?"

Kyon looked at Haruhi and retold him what he had tried to tell her before. "That Asahina is a time traveler, Koizumi is an esper and Nagato is an alien."

Makoto looked at Haruhi, who still struck the same pose. He approached her and kneeled down until his face was even level with hers. "Mikuru is with a time-traveling organization; thus, she's a time traveler. She's here to investigate a time quake supposedly caused by you. Itsuki is an esper and a member of the Agency who dispatches espers to destroy beings that attempt to destroy this world because you're a God. And Yuki is an alien, humanoid interface created by the Entity who will _terminate_ her if we don't do anything. You're the key to auto-evolution. Do you understand now where this is going Haruhi? You have special powers within you. You want the world to evolve around you? It already is evolving around you. Don't you see it?"

Kyon gasped. Asahina, Koizumi and Nagato had warned Kyon not to tell Haruhi _anything _regarding her powers. And now, he had just said it. "Hey! What are you doing? They told me not—"

"They only told you because of what their organization told them to tell you!" Makoto harshly interrupted. He glanced back at Haruhi, whose stern look disappeared from her face. "_That's_ what I know about you. In this universe, you're a God, and you've done a hell of a job from trying to destroy it. Now I hope I didn't make you mad that fireballs will come from the sky, but you can live in denial or you can let me show you something." Makoto's tone of voice was demanding enough to cause Haruhi to let it go and resort back into a melancholic state.

"Why are you telling me this?" Haruhi asked softly. "How do I-"

"Haruhi!" Makoto said, "I'm telling you this so you will believe. If I can't get you to believe, then I won't be able to save Yuki and I'd be wasting my time. I'll explain more in depth, but for now, I need you to go along with me and Kyon. You _and_ Kyon are the key in saving Yuki's life."

He stood up and walked back towards Kyon and the door to try guiding Haruhi inside. He knew he shouldn't have told her about her powers but if she continued to act like this, she and Kyon wouldn't be able to see Yuki ever again. He checked the sky to see if anything would come out but couldn't see anything with the towering trees. Kyon was concerned that Makoto would cause Haruhi's emotions to go off balance and destroy the world, and they wouldn't be able to see Yuki one last time.

Makoto was standing there by the door with his left hand stretched out. He lowered his tone. "Please, Haruhi. Just do this and you'll understand." After looking down towards the ground and then looking at Kyon and Makoto, she sighed and proceeded to walk forward.

Makoto grabbed the board and placed it back against the door. He took a flashlight out of the bag and turned it on to reveal a trash-ridden corridor. The interior was very dark with a musky odor. Makoto was looking for a decent area in the building until he located what appeared to be the kitchen in a small-enclosed room. "Right here." He placed the flashlight next to the bag on the floor and left it on. Kyon and Haruhi finally approached Makoto still holding their schoolbags.

"Throw your schoolbags by the corner, you won't need them. I only need mine. Oh, Kyon, get your jacket. You will need it. Sit down in front of me and hold hands. Remember to keep them tight and close your eyes tight." Makoto said as he began to dab at his watch.

They threw their school bags by the corner—Kyon remembering to get his jacket—and joined hands tightly per Makoto's request. They formed a circle around the bag as Makoto dabbed at his watch. The watch made a series of computer beeps and then made a vibrating noise. He grabbed Haruhi's and Kyon's open hand and said the following quickly: "Close your eyes, and hold tight. This will feel very unusual."

Haruhi and Kyon sat there for a few seconds before something hit them with a strong wave of lightheadedness, as they were unable to breathe. Makoto knew how the process felt. The ground that existed below them was gone and they felt like they were falling in thin air. The surrounding sounds faded and there was utter silence. The light that came from the flashlight went out and all was black. The process had felt like a long time but had lasted about five seconds. When the process was over, the silence returned to light ambient noise and the feeling of dizziness faded. "We're here. Open your eyes." Makoto said. Kyon and Haruhi opened their eyes and glanced at each other before taking observation of the new room.


	9. Book 2:Chapter 8

**Book Two: Prepare For a Quest**

**Chapter 8: Discover the Past**

The room they were in earlier was not the same room they were in now. This room had a series of school desks in neat order and was a normal sized room. The environment was clean and free of the earlier musky odor and trash-ridden floors. What had been daylight earlier was a dark sky observed by the windows along the opposite wall, indicating that it was night. Makoto's bag and flashlight was still sitting on the floor between them in the middle. The light was still on, shining the small portion of the room. Kyon observed the documents in the room that were hanging on the wall opposite of the windows. They looked like documents for school. _Did Makoto sent us back to our school,_ Kyon thought. The room they were in didn't look like the same classroom he and Haruhi shared.

Makoto glanced at his watch and then the clock on the wall over the chalkboard. The time was the same: 9:40pm.

Haruhi finally spoke up. Her melancholic state had changed to resemble some cheer. "Ah. Does that mean your watch worked?" she asked.

Makoto looked at Haruhi with a smile. "Yes. Now can you believe that I'm a time traveler?" he said sarcastically.

Kyon felt sweat drip from his face. For some reason, it felt hot inside the room as if it was a summer day. He was wondering why it became hot and where did Makoto sent them. "Where are we actually? And what day is it?"

"We're at East Middle Junior High," Makoto said, "As for the date, it's Monday, July 7th, 2007. The day of Tanabata."

"Huh?" Kyon was amazed at the date. He sent them close to four years back from their current time period?

Haruhi gasped. That's when she noticed the humid air in the room. She started to feel sweat run down her neck and on her face. "Did you just say we're at East Middle Junior High?"

"Yes." Makoto responded. "I brought you here to show you something. Something you might remember." Makoto stood up and stretched his hand to help Haruhi up. He then took a pair of binoculars out of his bag and walked to the window to see if he came at the right time. He made sure to open the bag where they couldn't see what was inside and closed it. He made perfect timing as the duo on the field down below was almost finished. "It's almost finished. Take a look."

Haruhi ran to the window to look at the ground below. She was surprised at what she saw on the court below. Kyon caught up to look out the window and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Down below in the field, a boy and a girl were on the court: the boy was pushing a line marker to create a large and familiar symbol on the court, the girl with long hair near the edge jumping up and down screaming at the boy. She was yelling something but it was distant and hard to hear. Haruhi grabbed the binoculars out of Makoto's hand and zoomed in towards the girl that was on the side. The girl had a yellow ribbon in her hair, identical to the one in her hair and had on a top and shorts. She then glanced towards the boy and noticed that he was in a North High uniform. His face made Haruhi's jaw drop. Haruhi finally figured out why Makoto sent them here: Haruhi was looking at her younger self while Kyon was creating the large symbol on the court.

"_I am here._ That's what the boy is writing on the field," Makoto said, "That's you Haruhi... the _younger _you. And the boy assisting you is Kyon..." He looked at Kyon and made sure to choose his words correctly. "_An alternate Kyon._"

She glanced at Kyon as if she didn't know what to say. Her face continued to show shock and she almost looked as if she would tear up. "Th... Then who is John Smith?" she asked, "Kyon told me he helped me during Tanabata create this. Is that you Kyon?"

Kyon sighed. He remembered what he tried to tell her about the Tanabata incident when she was at East Junior High and how she hadn't believed him. He looked at Makoto. "If I tell her, what will happen?" Kyon asked.

Makoto looked at Haruhi. He knew earlier he couldn't tell Haruhi about her powers but he had broken part of that promise in order to convince Haruhi to see this. He would remind himself later to tell Haruhi not to let anyone else know about her secret personality, for it may result in severe chaos. Makoto came up with a solution.

"No, Haruhi," he said, "The Kyon that is right here is the real Kyon. The Kyon down there is a replica of this Kyon, only from a different dimension. And that Kyon met with this current one to tell him to obviously not tell you what happened on this day. So no, it's not this Kyon who helped you, but the other one. But you will be able to see that Kyon, the one who would tell you his identity as John Smith."

Kyon tilted his head. Makoto was so good at making stories, he actually made Haruhi believe that story. Makoto blinked to Kyon, indicating that he did know he had helped Haruhi then, but had to say the story so she wouldn't do anything drastic. Kyon nodded. "That's... right Haruhi. The other me told me about this incident."

"Also," Makoto said as he pointed in the direction of the building in the distance, "Look over there and you'll see a girl. Do you recognize her?"

With the binoculars still in her hand, Haruhi looked in the direction Makoto was pointing. A girl appeared sleeping against the wall of the building. She was also in a North High uniform and despite it was dark, you could tell she had reddish orange hair. It was Mikuru. Haruhi gasped.

"Now do you understand Haruhi? Mikuru _is _a time traveler. She is the one who sent the alternate Kyon here to help you. And speaking of John Smith," Makoto continued as he collected the binoculars and walked back to his bag, "I actually have one more place I need to take you guys to before you see the real deal." He replaced the binoculars for a jacket that matched his gym apparel and handed it to Haruhi. "You're going to need this. Put this on."

Haruhi accepted the jacket and put it on, the jacket almost fitting her like a dress. Kyon already had his coat jacket on. Makoto glanced for Haruhi and Kyon to approach him and asked them again to close their eyes and hold hands as he began to dab at his watch again. This time they did it standing up.

* * *

><p>They woke up in a dark room, the flashlight lighting up few of the details of the room. The room was actually larger with columns and empty tall shelves. Some windows revealed a bright overcast day, indicating it was daylight. Another abandoned building or warehouse, but this was cleaner and the air was cold... Or make that freezing cold.<p>

Haruhi noticed the immediate chill in the air first. "Uh!" she said as she clutched herself to keep warm. She saw her breath form out into the cold air. It was very cold and she along with Kyon was shivering. "W-Where are we now?"

"Monday, December 20, 2010," Makoto said, "Just near Kouyouen Academy."

Kyon remembered that date and the location. The same date he was supposed to be in a hospital bed from hitting his head on the stairs at school but was in a different dimension that Nagato had altered. He made a glance to Makoto that asked was this what he thought it was. Makoto knew what Kyon was thinking. "Yes Kyon. We are here. In the alternate dimension you were in, but Haruhi had no idea about. Come."

They snuck out a side door and took the short walk to Kouyouen Academy. Again, Makoto looked at his watch to check the time: 12:14pm, right on schedule.

The freezing cold didn't affect Makoto, who was still in long pants and a short sleeve top with his bag in tow. _How could he manage walking in this cold with no coat,_ Kyon thought. Kyon tried to keep warm with his jacket while Haruhi appeared to be freezing. He knew the jackets they wore for their fitness class were very thin and useless in very cold conditions. "Haruhi, you want me to help you?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine." Haruhi reluctantly said. Her reluctance got Makoto's attention. That reminded him when he stopped to look at Haruhi. Haruhi didn't like how Makoto was looking at her.

"What is it?" she asked, still clutching herself in the jacket. The freezing cold caused irritation to show on her face.

"You need to take that ribbon out of your hair." He said.

Haruhi raised her eyebrow. "Why?"

"It will cause a time disturbance if they see you. Just take it off."

Haruhi made a deep sigh and began to take her ribbon out of her hair. She put it in the coat pocket and noticed Kyon was staring at her. With or without the ribbon, she looked cute but the stares from Kyon and Makoto made her annoyed. "Why are you looking at me? You better not have any funny ideas Kyon! You too, Makoto!"

"Ouch!" Makoto said feeling offended. "Easy, little goddess."

They made it to where they were near the entrance to Kouyouen Academy, coming from the opposite direction Kyon ran that time from North High. To avoid a time disturbance where the Alternate Kyon would see himself and the North High version of Haruhi, Makoto had them cross the fence through more bushes and trees between the road and train tracks to hide behind a building. He noticed a white van next to the building, so they hid there. Makoto glanced from the rear of the van and saw the alternate version of Kyon standing near the entrance to the school. School would let out momentary and he was waiting for the alternate Haruhi to appear. "Take a look guys, but don't make yourself noticeable."

Kyon and Haruhi glanced over below Makoto and noticed the Alternate Kyon/John Smith that was standing at the foot of the shop. The gate to the entrance of the school opened as students were walking out of the school. Haruhi remembered that Kouyouen was an all girls' school, but had both boys and girls coming out of it. "This is supposed to be an all girls' school. When did it become co-ed?" Haruhi whispered to Makoto.

Makoto responded in a whisper. "In this dimension, different to the dimension we just left, Yuki sent you along with Itsuki here. She kept the memories from the dimension we left into this one, but modified this school to be a co-ed facility. She made Itsuki and Mikuru normal humans and took away your powers. This is the reason why Yuki was punished, because she altered the time period." He noticed her version coming out of the building. "Oh. Here she comes."

Haruhi had just saw the younger version of herself earlier, and now saw the alternate version of herself leave Kouyouen Academy. She didn't pay attention when Makoto said Itsuki was also here. She was surprised to see Itsuki walking next to her. As if it were a movie, they saw the playback of that day: Kyon stopping Haruhi, Haruhi shocked to find out how Kyon knew her name, Haruhi striking Kyon when trying to stop her, and Kyon telling her who he really was, causing Haruhi to collapse. Anything that Kyon and Makoto convinced to her earlier that she had doubt of was gone. She could no longer deny that Kyon was not telling the truth, for he was telling her the truth. After watching the scene unfold, she sat down on the cold asphalt at the rear of the van and stared down at the ground. She took her hands that she had in her pockets and looked at them as if she could form an object out of them. After realizing nothing would come out of them, she put her hands on her cold face and sat there as she tried to think.

Makoto and Kyon noticed Haruhi sitting on the ground by the edge of the van with her hands covering her face. Her posture indicated that she looked sad. Makoto kneeled down and took her hands away from her face. She looked miserable and confused as she stared at his eyes. "Now do you believe?" he asked.

Haruhi nodded before saying, "I believe."

He helped her up. "Now's not the time to be sad Haruhi. Where is the energetic Haruhi I should know of, that Kyon already knows?"

After he said that, her sadness dissipated and a smile grew on her face. "There she is." Makoto said, forming a smile. He glanced at Kyon, who looked in sorrow but understood how Haruhi felt. Makoto was right when he said she was quick to deny but not willing to accept. She for once finally accepted.

"We have to move." Makoto said, "It's time to get real. We have to save Yuki. I did this so you would understand Haruhi, so you would believe. That is how this mission will work. Otherwise, it wouldn't if you were in denial."

As he signaled for Kyon and Haruhi to head back towards the abandoned building, Haruhi quietly yelled for them to stop so she could glance over the van to see the alternate Haruhi one more time. Itsuki was still holding the alternate Haruhi as she was staring at the alternate Kyon in amazement. She had questioned Kyon before about how he looked at Yuki and got jealous when he stared at Mikuru. If they were able to save Yuki and make it back to their time period, Haruhi sought to make changes to herself to get Kyon to pay more attention to her. Maybe she could try to be less bossy than she already was and listen to Kyon for once. Haruhi turned around to see Makoto and Kyon preparing to enter the bushes. She caught up to them as they walked back to the abandoned building.

They made it back to the abandoned building without any attention. Makoto realized that they had traveled in a time span from the clubroom in March 2011 to summer 2007 to the winter of 2010 in about an hour's time. Time traveling did little to the human body, but he figured Kyon and Haruhi hadn't ate anything for hours and were probably starving. He dabbed at his watch in preparation to take them to another time period where he could meet his contacts and collect more information. It was one of his requirements: always check back with his contacts to make sure everything was set before starting any mission.

As he configured the watch, Haruhi stood near him with her mind hazy and a puzzled look on her face. It worried Kyon. "Haruhi, are you okay?"

Haruhi raised her head before saying "Yes. I'm okay Kyon" while forcing a smile. He didn't know if she was okay or not. She had seen everything from her past to the alternate version of herself. She knew about John Smith—what Makoto told her—and realized that if Mikuru was indeed a time traveler, that would meant that Kyon was right about Koizumi as an esper and Yuki as an alien, humanoid interface.

Kyon stood next to Haruhi. He didn't think Haruhi was okay for many reasons. Of course, she was worried about Nagato, and then learned everything Kyon had tried to tell her in the past with help from Makoto. It was possible she was feeling down due to what Makoto said about Yuki dying in three days. He was still confused about that. "Hey Makoto. What did you mean when we were in the clubroom that Yuki would die in three days?"

Makoto had finished dabbing at his watch, giving himself more time to talk before they left the current time period. "I said three days so I could get you out of that clubroom. But it's not three days. I can tell you why it's not three days from the clubroom period but you'll find out once we get Yuki. If I told you now, it could affect the mission. So far, we do have time, but we need to get prepared in order to get Yuki. Going like this in this current state won't help us and I need to contact my resources to get more information. That's where we're going now."

Makoto glanced for Haruhi and Kyon to approach him and to hold hands again before they left. He set the watch to send them in 20 seconds so he could say one last thought. If in the event he had to stop the countdown, he could but thought he didn't have to, for he had convinced Kyon and Haruhi enough. "I need to know if you can do this. Once we get there, there's no turning back. This is do or die time. Are you guys willing to do this, to save your friend and prevent her boss from terminating her?"

Haruhi and Kyon glanced at each other before looking at Makoto. "Let's do this." Haruhi said as a smile formed on her face.

"Let's go." Kyon said as his face showed determination. He wasn't going to let the Entity have their way of Nagato. He kept his promise on what he would do if they did try to take her.

Makoto smiled after hearing their approvals. "Alright. Get ready."

With the bag sitting in the middle between them, they closed their eyes and tightened their grip as Makoto's watch sent them to another universe.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Makoto's assistants are not Japanese but are diverse characters from different backgrounds. Just thought I clear that out.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: The Gift of Bonding<strong>

Like the last time travel trips, they woke up in a dark room. Only a small window was visible on the opposite wall. With no light peeking through, it was nighttime. The freezing cold that was in the air earlier replaced the feeling of a late warm spring day. Makoto bent down to get the flashlight out of his bag. Although Haruhi and Kyon could open their eyes, they still couldn't see anything in front of them except for the small window before Makoto turned on the flashlight. "Welcome to my time period. This way."

He guided them to a door. On the other side of the door was a vast mountainous landscape. Although it was night, a moon was shinning strong enough to light up the environment like a second sun. In the distance down below was a large house enclosed in the vast forest. "We'll have to trek down the mountain to reach it," Makoto said, "Takes about 20 minutes to reach so let's go."

He began the walk down as Haruhi and Kyon followed him closely. Kyon looked back at the room they came out when he stopped in astonishment. There was a door, but no building to indicate that they had came out of one. Somehow, the door was standing vertically still. "Uh, Makoto?" Kyon asked.

Haruhi turned around to see the door but no building. "Ah! Wasn't there a room we came out of?" Haruhi ran back towards the door and tried to feel for a wall. She tried to open the door but it wouldn't open. Puzzled, she moved to the other side to open it and it still wouldn't budge.

Makoto walked towards her. "Have you ever seen _Stargate_?"

Kyon and Haruhi looked at each other as if they didn't know what he was referring to. He tried to explain it for them. "It was a movie and a series in the 90's. Similar to what I showed you from going from one time period to another, only exception is there was a ring you walked through, which carried you to the said dimension and brought you back to this ring. In this case, we only have a door. Where we came out, that was the exit. To travel to another dimension, you enter on the other side but only when it's activated at the house. Once activated, you open the door and enter the same room to travel out of this time period. I am teleported to a dimension and I can use my watch within the dimension to time travel between points."

"So to travel from this period to another period, you enter here and you're teleported to a certain time period to use your device and exit out the door when you come back?" Kyon asked.

Makoto nodded.

"When will we go through this?" Haruhi asked Makoto.

"When we travel to the Data Integration Thought Entity to save Yuki, but not now," Makoto said, "You guys must be hungry and tired. We'll head to the house for food and rest." He looked at his watch to see what time it was. 1917 hours. His watch had reverted from regular time to military time, indicating it was 7:17pm at night. Kyon looked at his watch and noticed that there was no indication of the current month, day or year present. "Is your watch working?" Kyon said as he pointed to the error on his watch.

"Oh, no. That's what happens here." Makoto said. Kyon looked confused. Makoto explained. "I forgot to tell you. In this time period, there is no month, day or year, just time. It snows, rains, shines and feels hot and cold just like the seasons.

After hearing that, Haruhi's face was shining as she widened a big smile. "Are you serious?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh yes," Makoto said, "but it can be cold and snowing one day and hot and sweltering another. So let's head to the house." They followed him closely as they trekked through the forest. Haruhi was ecstatic as she rambled off questions left and right as Makoto tried to answer every one of them.

"Are there animals?" _Not in this time period._

"Are there people?" _Only me and a few of my contacts._

"Where are we actually?" _Can't tell you._

"Then are we on earth?" _Sort of._

"What else can your device do other than stun and time travel?" _Still can't tell you!_

_Good grief, _Kyon thought.

After Makoto answered, "I told you I'll tell you later" from Haruhi's last and earlier question of "Who do you work for," they finally arrived at the house. The house resembled a large two-story log cabin that could pass for a mansion. From where they were earlier, it looked just like a house. The lights were on inside and smoke was rising from the chimney. It didn't feel cold outside but maybe it would be soon.

A security camera was hovering over the tall door. Makoto knocked on the door; however, he knocked in code: three taps, pause, five taps, pause, two taps. A minute went by until they heard the sounds of locks unlatching on the other side of the door. "Security measures." Makoto said. The tall door suddenly opened, revealing a middle-aged man. He was in a green turtleneck and dirty blue jeans. He appeared to be an American and was about Makoto's height with short hair. A smile grew on his face.

"Makoto!" the man said extending his hand out, "How are ya?"

"Ethan, hey!" Makoto said shaking the man's hand. "Doing good. Ran into some trouble but good."

They shook hands. The man didn't appear to look like a relative of Makoto and both spoke in English. "Well, I'll be. You're here early." He noticed Kyon and Haruhi standing next to him. "Oh! You bought guests I see. Well who are these two?"

Makoto introduced them. "Ethan, this is Haruhi Suzumiya. And this is…" He was going to say Kyon's actual name but wondered if he could introduce himself with his real name or nickname.

"Kyon." Kyon responded flatly.

The smile that was on Ethan's face dissipated when he saw Haruhi. "So _this_ is the person whose organizations said about." He said in Japanese. He stepped forward to look at her. "Makoto didn't make you mad did he?"

Haruhi looked at Ethan surprised. She wasn't expecting that question, even after Makoto told her who she was to these "organizations." "No, sir. He didn't make me mad. But he did show us time travel.

He chuckled as she spoke in English. "Yes he did." Ethan said looking towards Makoto. He then addressed Kyon in Japanese. "And _you're_ the one who planned to change your universe to save Yuki I see?"

Kyon sighed as he looked to the ground. _He knew about them just like Makoto. _"Apparently I'm the reason why Yuki is gone."

"Oh don't feel that way. You'll manage to save her. You and Haruhi along with Makoto here." Ethan paused as Kyon went to look at him again, then he resorted back to English. "Well, I'm Ethan. I help Makoto here with technological stuff. Come on in, the girls are close to preparing dinner."

"Don't worry about your shoes. You can leave them on," Makoto said, "Just so you know, Ethan is fluent in many languages. Oh, and don't forget your ribbon Haruhi."

Haruhi quickly put her ribbon back on. Too eager to meet the other people of the house, she used her ribbon to tie her hair into a ponytail. She looked at Kyon while tying it. "I don't care if ponytails turn you on, but don't daydream about stupid ideas involving me."

That was the second time she had referred about Kyon doing something stupid. It made Kyon annoyed. "Why would I even want to daydream about you or do something funny to you? Whatever." Makoto had finally gotten her to believe, but she still had a social problem between herself and Kyon.

Kyon and Haruhi met the two other girls of the house, Isabella and Gina, and another man of the house who all appeared to be Americans that spoke in English. The man was Kevin, who specialized in computers. All of them had dinner, which consisted of a large Western dish of Broccoli Cheese Chicken, which followed by a short tour of the house. Kyon and Haruhi learned that Isabella was Ethan's wife, yet she looked very close to Haruhi's age as Ethan looked much older than Makoto, and she didn't reference herself with an organization. As for Gina, she explained that she was once with an organization, but Makoto had to help her get out of because her life was in danger. With nowhere to go, she chose to live in this time period, for she would be a danger in wherever time period she came from. After the introductions, Makoto directed them to a room where they could rest. There were two twin beds in the room, followed by a dresser of clothing and towels if they needed a shower. Kyon felt funny about sharing a room with Haruhi but had to hear it from Makoto earlier: "_Sorry about this, but you and Haruhi have to share the same room. Gina doesn't want her in her room, Kevin really isn't a sharing person, and I hardly sleep so I'll annoy you. You'll be fine."_

Haruhi had taken a pair of clothes with her from Isabella to the bathroom before taking a shower, leaving Kyon in his bed as he thought about what he had experienced earlier. He had wondered if Asahina had recovered from being tased by Makoto in their time period, or if the world was still revolving. He thought about how Haruhi dealt with having to see her younger and alternate self though time traveling of the past, as she appeared to feel low but became energetic after discovering this mysterious world. After all, she always wanted to find mysterious things. Moving away from Haruhi, he focused about Nagato. He was concerned about her and what the Entity could be doing at that moment to her. He knew Haruhi wouldn't forget Nagato, and he couldn't forget of the times Nagato had saved his life.

The door opened and Haruhi came in, still drying her wet hair. Instead of wearing her school uniform, she was in a black long sleeved shirt that was a size too big and jeans that extended to her feet. "It's your turn now." Haruhi said. Kyon was still looking at her in awe. Irritated by him looking at her, she walked over to him and slapped him in the face with the towel. "What's wrong with you? Stop daydreaming! I said it's your turn now."

"Okay, I'm going." Kyon said as he grabbed his set of clothes and headed towards the bathroom. Haruhi pushed him out, slammed the door behind him, and sighed. She sat on the edge of the bed to dry her hair and fix her ribbon in her hair. She looked at the door, slightly irritated for why Kyon was looking at her. She sighed again. Maybe all this observation was making her grumpy and irritated at Kyon for no reason. After all, Makoto had said she didn't need to be angry with Kyon. She forced herself on her bed that was against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. The room was very tall, almost about 7 feet or higher. She tried to collect her thoughts about what she had observed earlier: The argument with Kyon, Makoto and his existence, the reason why Yuki was missing, and the confrontation with Mikuru and Koizumi. That followed with the trip to Tanabata, the alternate dimension where she saw herself going to Kouyouen Academy and then to this mysterious world. She should have been happy for witnessing these events but with the danger regarding Nagato, she continued to worry. She continued to ponder on the latter version of herself. Makoto had said that Yuki had altered the universe where she went to Kouyouen instead of North High, but he wasn't specific as to why. Maybe she could ask him again tomorrow. With nothing to do and not sleepy yet, Haruhi sat up to glance around the room as she thought about the past. When Kyon finally came in, Haruhi couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Kyon, I have to ask you something."

Kyon looked at Haruhi. "What is it?"

Haruhi got up from the bed to approach him until she was close to him. Kyon thought she would slap him again for no reason. "Something is bothering me about the alternate universe Yuki created where I went to Kouyouen. Why did she alter the universe?"

Haruhi had asked Kyon a tough question. Although she said she believed Makoto—and himself—would she listen to him now? "Will you believe what I'll tell you?"

Haruhi crossed her arms with an exhausted look. "Kyon, I've seen everything. Just tell me."

Kyon guided her to the bed and sat down next to her. He quickly tried to think of what to tell her but had to think and talk at the same time. He took a moment, and then began talking.

"Nagato altered the universe to give me a choice. It was her wish, to live in a normal world. That's what happened Haruhi. She gave me a choice where I would live in a universe with you or her. But I decided to go with this world… the world we know. A normal life would be boring. Yeah, like what you once said about how a normal life would be boring to you. You were right. A normal life isn't fun. It's fun to have a time traveler, an esper and an alien, and then there's you."

Haruhi looked up at Kyon. "What about me?"

"What Makoto told you about being a God, its true. Nagato, Asahina and Koizumi told me to keep it secret from you because if you knew of these powers, you could have changed the universe or destroyed it, or you wouldn't have believed me earlier like that argument we had at school. I-I don't know what else to tell you, but maybe Makoto will tell us the rest. But you are able to change the world. You may have not seen it, but you can, because you wished for it."

A moderate response, but Haruhi hadn't interrupted him but to ask about herself. She looked down on the floor. "I see."

Haruhi and Kyon sat there quiet for a long time. Haruhi was reviewing what Kyon said and Kyon was preparing for Haruhi to shout at him or ring his neck. Kyon looked towards the window on the opposite wall. The lit room hid the view of the outside, where it was nothing but black and the reflection of him and Haruhi sitting on the bed. He went to look at the door when Kyon felt someone clinging to his arm. He looked over at Haruhi who had cuddled next to him, her head resting on his shoulder as she wrapped herself onto Kyon's arm. The look on her face indicated she wasn't worried or depressed, but rather calm. He wasn't expecting Haruhi to rest on his shoulder. Hell, he wasn't expecting the brigade leader to show _any_ affection.

"Uh, Haruhi?" Kyon asked, his voice sounding of worry.

"Relax Kyon, just sleep." Haruhi said. Her voice sounded as if she was relieved than depressed as a smile formed on her face. Before she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, she said, "I'm sorry for not believing you."

Kyon sat there motionless after Haruhi fell asleep, still clinging to his arm. He knew in the past how Haruhi irritated him because she couldn't get what she wanted, but after hearing Haruhi apologizing to him for not believing him in the past, he was speechless. He looked at her as she slept against his arm and decided to move her as she still clung to his arm against the wall so they could sleep sitting up. After sitting against the wall and staring at the reflection in the window for a few more minutes, Kyon nodded off soon after. Makoto quietly opened the door to check on them as he saw them sleeping together on the bed against the wall. The sight of Haruhi cuddling to Kyon as she slept on his shoulder made him smile. _They would truly fit well to be a couple,_ Makoto thought. He closed the door quietly and made his way to talk to Kevin about penetrating the Entity.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Beyond Difficulty**

Makoto and Kevin were sitting at a table inside Kevin's computer room. On the corner of the table sat trash of empty soda cans and bottles while documents referring to text and photos covered the keyboard. The man in charge finally put his hands on his head and looked at Makoto to give the following statement: _"How in the hell are you expecting to do this?"_

That came from a disgruntled Kevin. For the past day, Kevin had managed to get enough information to notify Makoto on the difficulty of this mission that **they** gave him. The information on the computer monitors was enough to give Makoto a headache. Apparently, he had lost his train of thought.

"Okay... Run this through me again." Makoto said, his face full of agitation.

Kevin made a deep sigh. It was too much data, and even he had a headache from analyzing all of it. Plus, this would be the third time he had told Makoto what he had to do in order to save Yuki.

"Look," Kevin began as he banged his hands on the desk, causing a few soda bottles to fall over, "For the third time, I don't know what organization told you to save this girl, but you got a lot on your plate. _A lot._ You see this screen here, the one that has the dot indicating Earth and the other dot indicating the Entity?"

Makoto could clearly see the dots. On the left center was the dot indicating Earth, the dot on the upper right indicating where the Entity was located. A ruler would have measured them 10 inches apart. But in light years, it was 12.7 billion kilometers apart. Makoto sighed. Instead of the Entity having a secret headquarters on Earth, it was a long way out in space on another planet. Somehow, he expected to travel afar just like in his past missions, but not this far. Even aliens and humanoid interfaces wouldn't bother creating life on the moon that was nearby. He wondered if the watch could carry them from the Entity back to Earth when the time came to escape.

"Okay, so... you can send me to the Entity, but will I be able to come back here?" Makoto asked.

"How is _that_ thing going to get you from the Entity back to Earth, rather yet here?" Kevin questioned Makoto while pointing at his watch.

Kevin didn't stop there. "We got another problem. Look at this screen. Even if you managed to get into the Entity, in a technological sense, their _extremely advanced_ technology is far more advanced than your equipment or mine. And they don't screw around when it comes to security. They have an army whose security force is tighter than Scotland Yard, the Pentagon, and Area 51 combined in one! They'll even know your coming from a light-year away. Right now, you're talking about suicide. And that's even if you can get in."

Makoto finally got it. In order to save Yuki, he along with Kyon and Haruhi would have to travel a million miles to reach the Entity, get Yuki, avoid detection the entire time, detonate the bomb that **they** gave him and get out of there with Yuki and the others to safety. He was concerned earlier about the bomb, thinking that the device would fail or wasn't powerful to completely destroy the Entity. Despite its size, almost that of a small briefcase, Ethan had analyzed the bomb to ensure it would destroy the entire Entity and not leave a trace. So far, what he had gotten out of Ethan was good news: The bomb was worst than Hiroshima or the hidden nuclear bomb somewhere in North America that one time. That was good news so far on the bomb, but Makoto wondered why Kevin was so worried about penetrating the Entity.

"I know you're stressed because I put you through Hell to find out this information," Makoto said, "but why are you freaking out? Of all the missions you've prepared me for, yet _this_ one worries you?"

Kevin had a right to worry. Before he became an assistant in helping Makoto collect information on his missions, he was an employee of the Data Integration Thought Entity who specialized in knowing the whereabouts of the humanoid interfaces like Yuki Nagato and analyzed data received from the interfaces. No one had even tried to penetrate the Entity and doing so was a suicide mission. The reason why he was in that mansion now was that the Entity fired him along with a few other employees for creating emotions within humanoid interfaces. There were ways to make humanoid interfaces work with emotions, but the Entity did not allow it. When Kevin hacked into three interfaces to try the emotions against protocol, two of them overtime dismantled themselves while one tried to kill a person and failed to follow the back up of another interface. The irony of it: The interface known as Ryoko Asakura tried to kill Kyon in his time period and as a result, Yuki Nagato had to terminate her for going on her own. That next day, the Entity fired Kevin along with the others for not following protocol. He managed to escape the Entity through a time warp device and ended up with Ethan, Isabella and Gina. The others who the Entity fired weren't so lucky. There had been a rule within the Entity that if you breached protocol, you weren't only fired, _they killed you_.

Kevin tried to calm down. "You know why I worry. I used to work there and I almost got my ass killed. Hell, I wasn't expecting emotions to kill Kyon. Don't tell him I had anything to do with that. But of the missions I've helped you with, I'm just concerned they will kill you, Kyon or Haruhi."

Makoto sighed. "I see. Well, you don't need to worry about me, yet I do have to worry about their wellbeing. I'm willing to take the chance."

"You better think about it." Kevin said as he got up and walked out of the room to grab another soda. Makoto had gained new knowledge of the mission, but needed at least one more day to collect more information and verify his devices would help him when he penetrated the Entity unless Ethan and Kevin could speed up the process. The bomb needed to destroy the Entity would work and it would be difficult to get in and out, but he was pondering about Haruhi.

If she did have powers as **they** and the other organizations said, she could use them... That was if she had them. No earthquake or supernatural events happened after he told her about her powers when they left that time period, and the sky didn't open when he showed her the past and the alternate dimension. He wanted to know if she still had those powers, but he had to find a way to test her and keep this time period going at the same time.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: **_**They**_** Said She Had It...**

After breakfast the next day, Makoto brought Kyon and Haruhi outside to have a talk. He got back in touch with Ethan and Kevin that morning about his devices and found out from Ethan that his devices would be useless if he penetrated the Entity. With Ethan as a master in electronics, engineering and weaponry, he worked on his devices to modify them to the Entity's standards. Kevin acquired more information but would tell Makoto in advance before they went to the Entity. As they were outside behind the house, Gina was sitting on the porch deep in thought of the novel she was reading. Kyon managed to catch a glimpse of the book titled _"10th Anniversary." _She reminded him how Nagato was in the clubroom: a quiet bibliophile.

"I brought you guys out here because I talked to my contacts and were close to going to the Entity to get Yuki, but we've run into some problems." Makoto said.

"What is it now?" Kyon asked.

"The devices I carry in my bag, some defense weapons, tools, stuff... whatever. They're not up to the Entity's standards but Ethan is working on that now. I want us prepared before we head over there so it may take another day."

Kyon never paid attention to the bag Makoto carried in tow, for it wasn't his business to know what was in it. But another day would mean the Entity could terminate Nagato at any day. "But what about Nagato? How much more time do we have?"

"We have enough time Kyon. Think of it where Yuki is right now, time is frozen. It will flow in motion once we enter that time plane. When I took you and Haruhi out of your time period, time froze. Once we're set, we'll go through the door to the Entity and the game to save Yuki will begin. The plan is almost complete." Makoto reassured Kyon that they had time. After all, Nagato had frozen Kyon and Asahina for three years in her apartment. It was possible.

"But that's not why I brought you out here." Makoto said as he turned around to face them. He was still thinking about Haruhi's powers last night and wondered if she could use her powers in the event his devices stopped working or the bomb didn't go off. That way, they would have one more chance at defeating the Entity. "I'm assuming Nagato, Koizumi and Asahina's organizations told you what would happen if Haruhi learned about her powers?"

Kyon simply knew the answer. "Nagato told me something along the lines of catastrophic damage, Koizumi said she'd destroy the world and Asahina didn't tell me anything but 'classified information.'"

_Typical,_ he thought regarding Asahina. As for Koizumi's and Nagato's thought, "I figured that's what they would have said."

"Makoto, what do you suggest we do?" Haruhi asked, "You said I had powers, but how do I know if I have them?"

"You have them, at least you do. When you get bored, depressed or angry, you change the universe to your likings or you would 'destroy the world.' I was anticipating the latter but I'll go for the former. When you want something to change, it changes the next day and although you may or may not have noticed it, you recreated the world for it to happen. That's what Koizumi, Asahina and Nagato would have told Kyon." Although **they** told him not to tell Haruhi anything regarding her powers, he hated following strict rules. The organization that put him up to this task had a tendency to resemble the strictness of Asahina's organization. Makoto wondered that if Haruhi was going to end or change the world, why hadn't it happened yet?

Makoto paused for a moment, and then said, "Kyon... I want you to do a test to see if this will work."

Kyon looked at Haruhi before looking at Makoto. "What... test?"

Makoto sighed and looked at Haruhi. "Make Haruhi angry."

As if it were a hard question on a philosophy test, Kyon looked at Makoto in astonishment. _Make Haruhi angry,_ he thought. "How?"

"Argue with her, shake her, I don't know. I have to see her powers to prove what those organizations said are true. With luck, if you anger her, my watch can detect a life-threatening danger in the current time period and alarm me to either fix the change or escape the time period while I have time. In this case, I can send time back by ten minutes and we wouldn't have this discussion. But I would know that she has her powers."

"So you're saying if anyone angered me or if I feel depressed, I could change or destroy the universe?" Haruhi asked.

"Yes. But to make the universe change, you'd have to wish for something. It's faster if we make you angry, that way I can tell ahead if you have your powers or not."

Haruhi couldn't think of anything to wish for. She seemed to blend in with the current environment and got along with everyone in the house. She faced Kyon. "But how will you make me angry? I mean, you can argue with me but you better not hit me. Not after yesterday Kyon."

Kyon didn't want to argue with her, or hit her. After yesterday night, why would he? He finally felt a connection between her and by arguing with her, he would lose that connection. He might have sought interest in Asahina, but the feeling of Haruhi cuddling with him last night was better than that. And she apologized, something that he didn't expect from Haruhi. After thinking about it, Kyon couldn't think of a way to anger Haruhi. "I can't do that. I don't know how to make her angry." He finally said. Not that he wanted to, but Kyon really didn't feel like arguing with her again.

Makoto sighed. "I understand." There were ways he could make Haruhi mad, but there had to be a reason to make her angry. Pushing her around wouldn't work unless there was a reason behind it, and slapping her was out of the question. He noticed Gina was still at the porch reading. An idea came to mind quickly, something he had read in Haruhi's file about how she and Mikuru met.

"Hey Gina! You got a moment?" Makoto yelled at Gina.

Gina looked up to see Makoto signaling her to come over. She put the book down and ran over to see what he wanted. "What's up?" she said.

"Come here," he said as he wrapped his arm around Gina, "You guys try to come up with a way to get angry."

As Kyon and Haruhi decided on how to make each other angry, Makoto took Gina aside and whispered his idea to Gina: Get behind Haruhi and do what Haruhi did to Mikuru that one time. He didn't know how Haruhi would feel if the opposite had happened to her so he decided that Gina play Haruhi and Haruhi became Mikuru. It was a dirty idea but maybe enough to make Haruhi mad. Gina stepped back, her face showing astonishment. "Are you serious?" she asked him while trying to whisper. Makoto nodded his head with a smile. "And what happens if it works?"

"Don't worry about it," Makoto said as he pointed to his watch, "If the universe is about to change or the world blows up, the alarm will go off. I can reverse time and they or you wouldn't know."

Gina thought about it, as she wasn't smiling and more in doubt. There had to be another way but she couldn't think of one. Makoto was asking her to do something she had never done, not even to Isabella. And she didn't want to be the cause for the universe blowing up if it did work and his watch failed to do the job.

"Fine. I'll do it, but you better apologize if this fails. And I'll hate you if the world ends."

After agreeing, she and Makoto walked back towards the duo. "Came up with anything, yet?" Makoto asked.

"Nope." Haruhi said

"Nothing." Kyon said.

"Hm." Gina thought. "Oh well." She glanced in the distance of the forest. She put on a face of excitement that something was in the forest. "Hey Haruhi, look at that! Come here." Gina carried Haruhi a few feet away from Makoto and Kyon to show her something that was in the forest, as if there was _something_ to show.

Makoto walked back to Kyon and tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn't help smiling. It got Kyon's attention. "What are you doing to make Haruhi mad?"

"You'll see."

As Gina was trying to point out an animal in the forest, Haruhi moved closer to see as her back was against Gina. _It was a trap._ Kyon got the idea immediately when he remembered what Haruhi did to Asahina that day about why the SOS Brigade needed more than a mascot. It was one of Mikuru's _big_ assets.

With her back against Gina, he watched as the girl raised her hands and grab the one asset that would cause Haruhi to scream and become angry: Her breasts. Before Kyon could yell out, it was already too late.

"Uh! What are you... doing to me?" Haruhi yelled as she tried to free herself from Gina's hard grip. Gina didn't let go. She continued hugging and squeezing her in an inappropriate way until they fell over and rolled on the ground. Makoto continued to keep a straight face but couldn't help see the sight and broke out laughing. Kyon interfered and tried to separate the girls.

"Get off her! What are you doing?" Kyon yelled as he got Haruhi away from Gina.

Haruhi was shocked. Not angered, just shocked. Plus, she was blushing lightly. She put her arms close to her chest. "Why did you do that to me?"

Gina finally got up. She was blushing also, but looked embarrassed. With a confused look on her face, she quickly thought of a response. "I thought you were a lesbian," she said while placing her right hand over her chest, "What, you don't want to have fun with me?" Gina tried to approach her but Kyon stopped her.

"That's enough." Kyon said. Of course, he couldn't handle seeing Haruhi harass Asahina in the past, but another girl harassing Haruhi?

Gina sighed. Just as she thought, it didn't work. She pointed towards Makoto and said, "Ask _him_ why I did it. You said to treat her like Mikuru! I knew it wouldn't work!"

Kyon and Haruhi turned to look at Makoto. Kyon had understood Makoto's strategy immediately when Gina was behind Haruhi, but it took Haruhi a moment to understand before she finally got the message. Her face that showed shocked expression now was turning red as she became angry. "Why did you make her do that to me? That was your excuse to make me angry?" she yelled.

"I have to make you angry!" Makoto yelled back smiling. He was still waiting to see if the alarm on his watch would go off but nothing had happened yet. And he didn't hear the sounds of whistling in the sky of an approaching threat. Haruhi shoved Kyon aside and stormed over to Makoto. She was very angry now judging by the sight of her balled fists. In revenge, Haruhi tried to kick him in the shin, the same way she saw her alternate self kick Kyon when he grabbed her, but it didn't do any avail as he was still standing there with a smile on his face. She tried to slap him, but he caught her hand in mid stride and picked her up to spin her around.

Kyon again tried to interfere but Gina stopped him. "He can fix the time plane if she destroys the world. Just wait."

She tried to struggle free from Makoto's clutches but it wasn't working. The more he spun her around, Haruhi became more angry and dizzy. "Dammit Makoto, put me down now!" After a few more spins, Haruhi's vision began to blur. "Let me go!"

He finally let her go as she struggled to walk forward from the dizziness and fell over onto the ground again.

Kyon tried to reach Haruhi to help her but she managed to get back up and charged towards Makoto like a football player. Not willing to resist, he stood there waiting for the petite girl to knock him over. He would regret it later. Despite her small size, she was able to knock a tall and heavy Makoto backwards onto the ground, as she pounded her fists into his chest and yelled obscenities at him. Still laughing and now feeling the pain, Makoto finally waved his hands out to surrender. "Okay Haruhi, I surrender. Ow! Stop hitting me!"

Kyon finally got Haruhi off Makoto and resisted her as Makoto got back up. After catching their breaths, Makoto looked at his watch. For five minutes, they had managed to anger Haruhi, and nothing happened. He looked at the cloudy sky above them and with no signs of it getting dark or the sounds of an approaching threat, it remained the same bright hue. "Well that was fun," he said with a smile, "Unfortunately, I don't think you have your powers anymore."

Haruhi freed herself off Kyon and tried to hit him again but Gina caught up to her and stopped her. "Okay Haruhi! I'm sorry for sexually harassing you. Go ahead and hit Makoto. He's the one who said to do it!"

Makoto shrugged. "You did it to Mikuru. Don't you see what you put Mikuru through?"

Haruhi finally stopped huffing and puffing like a bull and casually walked towards him. Maybe Makoto was expecting it, but as she went to turn around to face Gina and Kyon, she quickly turned around to slap him hard in the face, leaving the faint imprint on the left side of his face. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" she demanded.

Makoto didn't react. He didn't need to. Of course, he needed Haruhi to get mad in the first place. And yes, he was willing for Haruhi to shout at him or slap him for his actions anyway.

Gina looked up at the sky. It was still a bright cloudy day and nothing changed. "Well Makoto," she said as she crossed her arms, "that didn't work out like you thought it would. You owe me an apology for making me become a lesbian. What was the idea for it anyway?"

Checking to see if Haruhi left a mark on his face, Makoto shook his head. "In the event my devices were useless, I wanted Haruhi to get mad at the Entity to cause damage. But she's no good if she doesn't have her powers." He remembered to apologize to Gina for doing that awkward stunt.

"So that means we'll have a hard time saving Yuki if these devices of yours don't work?" Kyon asked.

"Likely so." Makoto said rubbing the side of his face.

Makoto didn't notice that Ethan was jogging towards them from the house. He quickly checked his watch to see if anything was coming since it hadn't gone off. It wasn't about incoming meteors or the universe changing, but instead of something else. "Hey Makoto, I got your devices tuned up for testing. With a little tweaking, they're powerful now. Try them out to make... sure..." He couldn't finish his sentence as he saw the imprint of a hand across the left side of Makoto's face. "Why is the left side of your face red?"

Makoto was about to answer when Ethan noticed Haruhi staring furiously at Makoto while her fists were balled. Gina was standing next to her with her arms crossed and a disappointing look on her face. Kyon just stared at Ethan. Apparently, they were trying an experiment with Haruhi and it didn't work.

"I see," Ethan said assuming the obvious, "Haruhi, if you want me to brighten up your mood, do you want to see some fancy technological toys?"

Haruhi turned to glare at him with disgust, her balled fists tightening. If it was another trick, she'd let her anger out on him. He raised his hands and made a peace sign with one of them. "Hey don't give me that look! I don't know what they did to you. Trust me, it'll brighten your mood."

After realizing that Ethan didn't know what was going on, Haruhi let out a sigh. Makoto and Gina's attempt in getting her angry gave her a headache. She stared at Gina coldly, causing her to move back. "Sorry, Haruhi. I only did what Makoto told me to do." She responded. Haruhi then looked at Kyon and Makoto, before looking at Ethan. "Yes. I'd like to see these technological toys of yours."

She walked with Ethan back towards the house to see technological toys. They walked into the house as Ethan asked her what did they do to her to make her angry as the door closed behind them. Makoto, Kyon and Gina stood there in astonishment. "How does she manage to be angry one minute and cool down so easily?" Gina asked. Had that happened to her in the opposite fashion, she probably would have decked Haruhi and remained mad for the entire day.

"I have no idea." Kyon replied.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: ΛETO **_**(Pronunciation: eat-o)**_

Ethan bought Haruhi to his workshop within the mansion. The room was large with tabletops and flat screen computer monitors on walls bordering the room with several metallic devices. "These are the technological toys I was talking about," Ethan said, "Some of these devices are more advanced in technological terms than from your dimension."

Haruhi was in awe of the toys on the tabletops. One of them, a small spiked spherical device that was the size of a melon, got her attention. She went to approach it but Ethan stopped her. "No touch. That's very sharp, plus it's defective. I'm currently working on that to make it work."

"What is it?" Haruhi asked.

Ethan stared at the device. "It's meant to be a grenade. When you think of regular grenades that explode, this is like one, except it's made to cause extensive damage than your basic grenade. Pierce floors, concrete and steel walls, the spikes travel long distance, that sort of thing. You should ask Makoto. He's used one like it before."

Haruhi continued to observe the other devices and odd-looking objects in the room as Ethan moved to a corner of the room to finish working on what appeared to be ID badges when she noticed Makoto's bag sitting on the edge of the table closed. Several devices surrounded his bag, along with an orange manila folder with the letters "ΛETO" in black on center. On the tab was the name "NAGATO, YUKI."

Not interested in looking at the documents, she asked him what was the meaning of the letters on the folder.

Ethan looked at the folder in her hands. He scratched his chin. "Uh… That organization asked Makoto to save Yuki I think. He still hasn't told me who they are yet. He hardly says who the organizations he works for are.

Makoto and Kyon finally came into the room. Makoto had an ice bag against his face from where Haruhi slapped him earlier. "So what do you think of the toys Haruhi?" he asked. Kyon was observing the room and staring at the devices on the table. Ignoring the one Haruhi liked, his focus lay on several soda cans with a long red casing on top. "What are those?" he asked.

"Those devices are stun grenades. More powerful than what you may know of them." Ethan said observing Kyon looking at the unusual devices.

"The toys are cool." Haruhi said. She noticed the ice bag on his face. "Sorry for slapping you."

Makoto waived his hand in a gesture that meant no problem. Haruhi picked up the folder with the black lettering that was lying on the table. "What is this folder? It has Yuki's name on it but what is it?"

Makoto approached her and snatched the folder from her hands. He forgot to put the folder back in his bag after talking to Ethan that morning. His face became serious. "You didn't look in this did you?"

"No," Haruhi said offended, "It's not my business. But why is her name on the folder?"

Makoto set the ice bag on the table. "This is the organization that wanted me to save Yuki. **They** told me not to tell you about your powers, but I bend rules because I hardly follow them. And this folder has her name on it because it contains information to Yuki, but it's strictly confidential to me only."

Kyon looked at the folder. Just like Koizumi's Agency, Mikuru's organization and the Entity, almost no organization wanted Haruhi to know about her powers. "So who are they, if you'll tell us?" Kyon asked, making a look that he couldn't tell them who they were.

Makoto smiled. "**Λstronomical Evaluation of Time Observers**, or you could call them ΛETO. _T_his is my first time of doing a mission with this organization. They observed what happened to Yuki and wanted me to rescue her because she was a major importance in your time period. They didn't tell me much about how they knew Yuki and I don't know a lot about them, but I think they monitor multiple time periods within different dimensions."

Kyon's eyes blinked. _So that's who he was referring to as "they,"_ Kyon thought. "How did they find you? And is this another organization that monitors Haruhi?"

Haruhi looked at Kyon before looking at Makoto.

"I can be found easily though multiple organizations," Makoto said, "And no, they don't monitor Haruhi, but they were worried about you and Haruhi recreating the universe, and how Haruhi would react. Thus, that's why you two are in this mess with me."

He continued. "I think they knew the outcome of what you guys would do, but they didn't tell me anything except save Yuki and prevent you two from creating chaos."

Haruhi broke in. "But wouldn't you know the outcome if you're a time traveler?"

Makoto sighed. "Not really. I'm always traveling through time periods of the past, nothing ahead. Mikuru may know, but I doubt it." That was false. He had been through time periods of the future, but not through the observation period of Haruhi and Kyon's time for past or future missions. This meant that if in Haruhi's observation period that she had destroyed the world, it wouldn't interfere with someone else's observation period in a later future, as the world would still exist.

Ethan got involved in the conversation. "So by _'monitoring multiple time periods,'_ they monitor this time period too?"

"I think so."

Makoto walked over to his bag with the devices surrounding it on the table to put the folder in his bag. He carefully observed the contents of his bag, making sure Kyon and Haruhi wouldn't see them. "So you managed to fix them all?" Makoto asked.

Ethan got up. "Yeah, I even did tests and they work. Didn't you want to try them to make sure they work?"

"I trust you," Makoto said zipping the bag, "That's why I come here all the time."

Ethan had almost forgot. "Oh... Don't forget. Kevin wanted to tell you and them something before you guys leave today."

_Before we leave,_ Kyon thought. "What do you mean 'leave?'"

"I thought we would be here another day but after acquiring more information, I have enough that we can set out after we complete some device testing. Kevin will give us a speech before we leave today. Hope you're ready since it'd be pointless to waste another day for nothing. For now, do you guys want to experiment some of this stuff?" He nodded towards the table containing the stun grenades.

"Yes!" Haruhi said with an eccentric smile as she jumped out of her seat. She beat Kyon in answering.

"Great. Kyon, grab one of those black soda cans with the red casing." Kyon took one as Makoto took the remaining five and stored them in his bag. Ethan grabbed a stun grenade that looked like a modern-day device from their time period.

"Haruhi, get that canister next to you," Ethan said, "The coca-cola can is a modified version, the metallic is a real one." Makoto took six of the red soda can devices—later known as modified tear gas canisters—and placed them in his bag.

Complying, she collected the canister and with Makoto, Kyon and Ethan, they went back outside to do the experiments.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Device Testing**

In preparation for the testing of the devices, Isabella and Gina closed the windows, covered the drapes facing the back of the mansion, and closed the vents to prevent air from the outside pouring in. Makoto said when they experiment the devices they would close and cover the windows as a precaution. If they were testing biochemical weapons, they closed the vents, place the devices outside and detonate them with remote control from the inside. Haruhi had asked if testing was the reason for why there were no animals on the planet based on what Makoto had told her but Ethan said, "There are animals on this planet, but there is a boundary fence within a 16 kilometer radius of this house to keep them away."

Isabella and Gina remained indoors as Kevin came through the rear with safety goggles that resembled dark sunglasses, ear covers and hard hats for everyone. They walked out further until there was a 4 foot dip in the ground with a 4 foot concrete barrier wall. "This is where we do testing." Makoto said. They all got into the dip and put on the glasses and ear covers along with hard hats. That's when Ethan began the experiment. "This is your typical stun grenade that riot police use," Ethan said holding the real stun grenade in his hand, "The one you have in your hand Kyon is 10 to 20 times more powerful than this one. While this one will keep people at bay, the one in Kyon's hand will clear the street. When I say 'fire in the hole,' sit against the wall and face the mansion."

He unlatched the stun grenade and threw it over the wall far enough. It landed on the ground and then exploded, making a loud sound. They hardly flinched. It was very loud, but with ear covers, it was a muffled sound. It made a quick flash followed by a small release of smoke.

"Kyon, hand me the stun grenade you have." Ethan said. Kyon gave him the soda-can version of the stun grenade. "Go ahead and fire in the hole. And make sure your glasses are on." He unlatched the stun grenade and again, threw it over the wall before ducking. The device landed about 30 feet away from the wall.

Before Kyon could ask what the difference between the two was, the earlier sound that sounded like a small explosion sounded like the detonation of a large bomb that was just behind them. It was loud enough that they all had to cover their ears through the ear covers. Also, there was a strong blinding bright light following the explosion, bright enough to show through the glasses. They closed their eyes tight, even tried to cover their faces with their hands but it didn't help. Even with their eyes closed and hands covering their faces, they could still see white. Haruhi began screaming until the white light dissipated.

They glanced back over the wall. All five of them were trying to blink their eyes to bring them back to reality. The bright light produced glare, which was affecting their eyesight. Their vision returned and they could see the landscape before them as clear as day. The power of that stun grenade was enough to scorch the ground the color light brown and cause the surrounding trees that were about 30 feet away to mold in the after effect of the explosion. The device that landed on the ground along with the earlier stun grenade disappeared. If they had looked close enough, the ground where the grenade landed sunk about eight inches. Even the bomb had not disrupted the dirt.

"What in the hell was _that_?" Kevin said shocked, his mouth wide open.

"_That_," Ethan began, "was a flashbomb disguised as a modified stun grenade. More powerful. Unlike the previous one that exploded and didn't cause much damage, this causes damage beyond a 10 foot radius. By the look of the trees that molded in the outward direction of the blast radius, it can go beyond I say about 20 or 30 feet away, further than I expected. It can damage wall systems, steel, shatter glass up to thicknesses over 10 inches; the blinding light that you experienced is meant to incapacitate those within the range."

"_Incapacitate?_ It almost damn near made me blind!" Kevin said in a harsh tone.

Ethan moved over to the other side of the concrete wall and noticed that the wall remained intact with exception of a few cracks that had widened. Luckily, he threw the canister far enough that the barrier wall—buried deeper into the ground and made of steel with concrete—didn't crumble. If it had been just a concrete barrier, the 2 foot thick wall would have crumbled and crushed them in the dip. "Well, in case you were cornered and you need to incapacitate your enemy, this would do the trick. But if you're heading to the Entity, I don't know what walls they have."

"Excess reinforced steel that's made to withstand an RPG." Kevin said.

"Aw, it'll bust through that." Ethan said.

Makoto hoped so.

The last experiment consisted of the "tear gas" canisters. The metallic one was another basic canister riot police use while the other was a modified canister of a stronger agent. With no wind blowing, Ethan threw the basic canister very far and it spewed a cloudy substance in the hole created from the earlier flashbomb. "This canister is basic tear gas that is meant to cause irritation within the eyes. As before, used by riot police" Ethan said. He got the one Haruhi had in her hand and warned everyone else to run back to the house as quickly as they could when he threw the modified version in the same hole. "When I throw this, run back to the house. The last one in before me, wait until I get in then shut the door."

"Wait!" Kyon said, stopping him from throwing the canister, "What is in that canister that we have to run back to the house?"

"CR gas," Ethan answered, "Unlike tear gas that causes irritation to the eyes, CR causes skin irritation, blindness, and immediate incapacitation. Also meant to be lethal if inhaled. I've tested this canister before on a robot that resembles a humanoid interface and it can damage systems within, causing them to pass out or malfunction. That's why I need everyone to run back to the house. We could use a small bomb to detonate it with a remote, but if we do, the effect could cause it to drift towards the house."

Everyone waited for Ethan to throw the canister for the moment to run. He threw it harder, the device flying through the air before it hit the ground about 35 feet away. But everyone was on a beeline dash for the back door before it hit the ground. The device exploded, making the same sound as the normal stun grenade. Kyon, who was holding Haruhi's hand in the mad rush back to the door, looked back to see a pale-yellowish color emitting from the canister. He concentrated on the door and got a head start from everyone else. Haruhi looked back and noticed the yellowish color drifting in the opposite direction of the house. It was a large yellowish cloud, almost towering about six feet high. They all made it back in through the door; Kyon remembering to shut the door the moment Ethan got in. They all took a moment to catch their breath. "Well," Makoto began trying to catch his breath, "I guess you outdid yourself Ethan. I'll remember to collect more when we leave. Now what did you want to tell us Kevin?"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Penetration Preparation**

After Makoto, Ethan, Kevin, Kyon and Haruhi piled into the workshop, Kevin gave a short speech on how Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi could penetrate the Entity. It was still a suicide mission according to Kevin, but he had more information he had to share.

"It's possible I can transmit you guys to a building that is near the Entity. Despite that I said the Entity wasn't on earth, it is on a planet populated by humans and humanoid interfaces. Think of it as a second Earth, only difference is it's in a world where humans and machines live together." He said, trying not to confuse Kyon and Haruhi. "Therefore, the Entity's headquarters are located at the city I'll transport you to: Orion City. I'll teleport you from the door at the top of the hill. I'll place you in a building near the Entity. From there, you'll have to go through security to enter the facility."

Makoto scratched his head. "I wouldn't have thought you worked at the Entity until this mission came up. So I assume you did live there before you came here?"

"Correct." Kevin replied.

"So what can we expect when we get inside? ΛETO didn't tell me much about the Entity so I guess I'll get that from you?"

Kevin looked down as he sighed. Kyon could tell the seriousness in his face. "The Entity like I told you is a very extremely advanced facility. When you get inside, it won't look like a typical government-run building but has secret facilities within. Ethan will provide you a device that can hopefully corrupt any security systems to sneak you in but because the security is exceedingly failsafe, I can't guarantee you'll make it through the Entity safely and undetected. You'll need badges while you're at the facility. Ethan completed these today and hopefully they'll pass though, but knowing their security, they may detect them as fakes."

"Well, let's hope these I made will pass though," Ethan said as he picked up the badges for Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi, "Unlike the badges I've made in the past, these were challenging." He passed the badges to Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi. The badges were like credit cards but had a glitter effect along with three shaped half moons on the upper left hand corner. The words "INTEGRATED DATA SENTIENT ENTITY" were on the top along with a bar code on the bottom and a photo on the right. To the left of the photo was a mix of numerals and odd lettering. Kyon and Haruhi wondered how they got a picture of them on the badge.

"What's with the numbers and letters? And how did you get a picture of us?" Haruhi asked.

"The numbers and letters, otherwise known as syllabograms, are your name," Kevin said, "At the Entity, they don't go by real names but by code. Just so you know who you guys are, Makoto will be disguised as an engineer who creates and designs devices. Kyon and Haruhi, you are disguised as interns to Makoto."

"Great," Makoto said, learning of his disguise, "And as for your pictures, those were the pictures from what ΛETO gave me for the mission."

Kevin continued. "Now you'll want to find the interrogation rooms where they would question Yuki. They are on the twelfth floor. These rooms are what you'd call a jail cell. There are stairs and elevators to get there so Makoto you decide on how to get up there. Just remember that security will be tight on that floor. Speaking of security, the Entity's security force is like an army, and they are armed. By 'armed,' I don't mean assault weapons, I mean laser rays, stun guns powerful than your watch, and a mass of other weapons that would be hard to describe. Not everyone that works at the Entity are humans. Most of them are humanoid interfaces. If they do not use weapons, they have powers built within them to eliminate a threat. I can't remember when Yuki was made, but they could be more advanced than her."

"When we started high school in our time period last year, she told me she came from the Entity three years ago." Kyon said.

Kevin tried to think of her processor's age with that of the other interfaces he once worked with. "Then on average, she's slightly advanced or obsolete to the other humanoid interfaces that work there. Furthermore..."

Kevin walked to the corner to grab a large storage case that resembled a rolling suitcase. It was black, made of aluminum, and was 26 inches by 18 inches with a depth of 16 inches. He strained as he lifted the case onto the counter, causing it to bang on the table. "The case ΛETO gave you to transport the bomb won't pass in the Entity and neither will your bag. Therefore, Ethan and me will place the bomb in this case. You'll be able to fit your devices in here as well. When you pass through security and they'll scan the case, it will show electronic prototypes of devices and documents that are in the case than your equipment or the bomb."

"What if they check?" Makoto asked.

"They shouldn't. Overnight, I managed to hack into their systems and put you, Kyon and Haruhi as employees. Their computers should show and you should make it through the entrance with no problems."

Makoto shook his head. "Impressive." He was concerned if they did decide to check the case, it could lead to a hostile situation.

"As for your appearance, it has to be strictly professional. Therefore," Kevin walked back to the corner where the case was and grabbed a gakuran: a black buttoned collared jacket with matching black straight leg pants, "You will need to wear this and only this. This is what I wore when I was at the Entity. Kyon, I think you could wear this since you and me are the same height. Makoto, you did pick up one for Haruhi and yourself right?"

Makoto nodded and walked to his bag. Kyon didn't know how he could store so much in that medium sized bag. He collected the gakuran Haruhi would wear and gave it to her, and got the gakuran for himself. "That's what you'll wear Haruhi," Kevin continued, "And because the Entity will know who you are by the sight of that ribbon, you'll have to go there without wearing it. Otherwise, you'll attract attention."

She didn't know why her ribbon would make such a big deal in the mission. Then again, she remembered why Makoto wanted her to take it off when they were in that alternate dimension. "Okay." Haruhi sighed as she took the ribbon out of her hair.

Kevin began to wrap up his speech while addressing Makoto. "I am still concerned that your watch may not be able to help you get back to Earth or here when the time comes to escape. However, if you feel the need that the watch may not help you or you run into trouble, you will want to look for something like this."

Kevin collected a small electronic device that resembled a fancy cellular phone out of his jeans pocket. The device was about the size of a memo book and had buttons along with a screen. The buttons were like that of a cell phone except at the base of the screen, there were five large buttons: "LAT/LONG," "MONTH," "DAY," "YEAR," "TIME." Below those was a red and green button along with an up and down arrow button. Haruhi moved closer to get a better look. Kevin got the feeling that Haruhi wanted to touch it, so he handed the device to her.

"At the time I used this to get away from the Entity and that world, there were four others like it. I don't know after my escape that they moved them or destroyed them. You could use this, but it died the moment I got here. If I remember correctly, they were stored in a tech lab on the eighth floor. They were on chargers. If you have to use the device, make sure you're in an enclosed room where no one can get in during the process. The device will not work if any disruptions occur within the environment of the room. Speaking of escape, you may want to find a room that is suitable to travel out of the time period. There are about three or more rooms and closets devoted to mechanical or electrical equipment on each floor so use them when you need to escape out of the time period. If you manage to get out of the facility before the bomb detonates, then use the same building you were teleported to get out or another one that suits your needs. Overall, I wish you guys luck and I hope you can save your friend. I also hope you will be able to escape before the bomb detonates if you're unable to leave the Entity."

Ethan broke in. "Uh... I analyzed the bomb ΛETO gave you. It's very powerful that it may destroy anything beyond a 160 kilometer radius. As a precaution, I think you should stick to using the storage areas for escape instead.

That reminded Makoto. "About that bomb, what kind of bomb are we talking about?" It was another thing ΛETO didn't tell him about: the density and type of bomb, and he hadn't bothered to ask or check.

"Nuclear," Ethan said, "A 120 kiloton device. Hell, depending on their technology, it's beyond atomic. That's why if you want to escape, use the storage closets or mechanical rooms. That organization was _really_ serious about getting rid of the Entity."

There was a brief moment of silence. In that silence, Kevin thought it had to be strong enough to penetrate the facility. Makoto was stunned about the nature of the bomb but Kyon was wondering how this organization could come up with the power to use weapons—make that violence—to eliminate an organization. Haruhi was awestruck about the bomb's density. She didn't believe in violence and thought there had to be a peaceful way to get Yuki. A very powerful bomb, even strong enough not only to destroy the Entity, but anything far away from it.

"Isn't there another way to save Yuki than use violence?" she asked Makoto.

Makoto didn't have an answer but Kevin did. "Knowing that boss, he's a dirty scumbag. And he doesn't believe in peace or settling differences. His excuse in solving problems peacefully is with war or violence. It'd be a waste of time to convince him not to use violent antics. Probably why they decided to destroy the Entity themselves and hire Makoto to do it. Will lives be lost? Yes. But can they come after Yuki, you or Kyon? No."

Kevin walked over to Kyon. "If this organization wants Makoto to destroy the Entity, _I'm_ for it. But the major importance is saving your friend first." He extended his hand. "Save your friend and teach the Entity a lesson. You wouldn't want them to have their way with Yuki right?"

Kyon shook his hand. He noticed Kevin was stern about this situation. "We won't let them have their way." He said. They bowed afterwards.

Kevin moved over to shake Haruhi's hand. "It's been a pleasure meeting you both." She thanked him, shook his hand and bowed, and gave him back the time warp device. They also shook hands with Ethan, who also bowed.

"Thanks guys," Makoto said to Ethan and Kevin. He turned to Kyon and Haruhi. "It's time to do this Kyon and Haruhi. Now is the time to get Yuki."


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Hope**

It took a half hour for Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi to change into their new attire. As they did that, Ethan and Kevin had loaded all of Makoto's devices along with the stun grenades and CR gas canisters, the bomb into the case, and the device Ethan made to corrupt any security systems. Kevin took Makoto aside while Kyon and Haruhi were changing to let him know of any additional information he forgot to say in the speech earlier. As Kevin had said, his old gakuran had fit Kyon well. It was a moment before Haruhi appeared at the door in her business attire. She noticed Makoto and Kyon looking at her as Kyon's face was slightly blushing. Haruhi didn't feel irritated by their stares and smiled. Kevin set the door at the top of the hill with a switch to send them to the dimension. With the door armed, all Makoto and company had to do was ascend the hill to the door, open it and enter, and wait to be teleported to Orion City. When the time came to leave, Kyon and Haruhi said their goodbyes with Isabella and Gina. Haruhi forgave Gina for what she did earlier that day and shook her hand. With the heavy case of his devices and the bomb, Makoto along with Kyon and Haruhi trekked back up the hill to where the door stood.

Midway up the hill, Makoto had to give a short speech. "I have something to say before we reach the door. When we get to the Entity, we stick together. Kyon, I want you to protect Haruhi at all costs and I'll deal with security and anyone who gets in our way. We get in, we get Yuki, arm the bomb and we get out. Haruhi, I want you to make a wish before we go through that door. I know your powers didn't work in this time period, but they may at the Entity."

"How can you be so sure?" Haruhi asked.

"I have a hunch. Your powers may have worked when we left your time period, but they may work at the Entity. At least, I hope you'll have your powers then to at least alternate the universe."

"But what can I wish for?"

Makoto thought about it. "Make a wish or a saying that would protect us if in the event we are unable to protect ourselves or the bomb doesn't complete the job."

Haruhi began to think of a wish or a saying. Kyon had to confirm that what Kevin said about the Entity was accurate. "So the Data Overmind isn't on Earth and according to Kevin, it's on another planet?"

"Yes that is correct," Makoto said as he turned around and continued walking backwards, "I was considering a secret facility on Earth creating humanoid interfaces and dispatching them to observe people but I found out last night from Kevin that's not the case. That's why he used to work at the Entity and showed you that device."

"But if he came from the Entity, doesn't that make him a humanoid interface?"

"No. He's pure human. He said humans and humanoid interfaces work there together. If he was a humanoid interface, he wouldn't have the emotions and reactions like us normal humans do."

Makoto turned around to continue towards the door. Kyon wondered if emotions were a reason why Ryoko Asakura tried to kill him that one time. If they were this "extremely advanced facility," how could emotions cause a breach in a humanoid interface to kill? He had gotten used to Nagato being monotone and slightly unusual but he wouldn't have mind if Nagato had some emotion or affection. Maybe not what her alternate self had when she altered the universe but just some to an extent. Then again, if she had the slightest sense of emotions, it could probably affect her to kill. He tried to push those thoughts to the side and concentrate on saving Nagato as they walked towards the door.

The vertical door came into view over the hill. Haruhi followed them as she continued to think of a wish or a saying until an idea popped in her mind.

"Wait!" Haruhi said

She caused Kyon and Makoto to stop in their tracks. That's when she said: "I know I have the ability to alter what I wish, but I would want something to happen to protect us if our lives are in danger at the Entity."

Makoto turned around and made a smile. "Hopefully that'll work."

They finally made it to the door. Makoto set the case on the ground by the "entrance" and extended his hand to the door. "Care to do the honors?" he asked, wanting Kyon or Haruhi to open it. Kyon looked at Haruhi and motioned for her to open it. She was interested in the door for how it stood vertically with no support when they arrived there the other day. Haruhi walked forward and turned the knob on the door to open it. The same room she remembered with the small window and the dark environment was there.

"When we go in, you don't have to hold hands. The environment within this room is made to teleport us to where we need to go," Makoto said, "And put these on."

He handed Kyon and Haruhi a pair of what looked like sunglasses. They put them on and the dark room in front of them remained black but the entire landscape surrounding them turned green. They were night-infrared glasses.

They entered the room and Makoto shut the door behind them. He sat the case on the floor. "_Hey Makoto did you make it in?"_ Despite the darkness, they couldn't see anything other than the window but recognized Kevin's voice on what appeared to be a hidden speaker within the room. "Yes Kevin, we're in." Makoto replied.

"_Okay. In six seconds at your request, you will be teleported to a building near the Entity. We wish you guys luck."_

"Thanks Kevin" Makoto said.

"_Just remember, when you reach Orion City, you'll need to get to Yuki quickly before that boss decides to terminate her. I don't know how much time you'll have but do this quickly."_

"Thanks for the tip. But hold on a second." Makoto looked towards Kyon and Haruhi to ask them if they were ready to go. They looked at him and said they were ready and willing.

"We're ready and set Kevin." Makoto said.

A brief pause. _"Okay. Get ready. The countdown has begun... now."_ That was the last time Kyon and Haruhi would hear from Kevin. Kyon counted the seconds down in his head. As he got to two, the same effect he felt when they time traveled the first time occurred, only this time there was a sound of rushing air mixed in with a wave of lightheadedness. The dark room became bright white. Again, they felt as if the ground below disappeared and they were falling. The process took ten seconds to complete, longer than Makoto's device. When the process was over, the bright white faded to black. There was utter silence and hardly any ambient noise. Through the glasses, what appeared to be nothing but black came into focus, revealing a room with lack of furniture. It was a room in a building somewhere near the Entity. It appeared that they had made it to the dimension, and the game to save Yuki was only beginning.


	17. Book 3:Chapter 16

**Book Three: Welcome to the Entity**

**Chapter 16: A Mysterious World**

A moment passed before Makoto whispered, "Are we all here?"

"I'm here." Haruhi whispered.

"So am I." Kyon whispered.

They were all in a crouch position on the floor. The storage case was still between them and Makoto analyzed the contents of the case to ensure all was there. He noticed that Kevin and Ethan had organized the case to include the unusual and odd-shaped metallic objects that were lying around on the tables on top of his devices and the bomb that was in the suitcase. He looked through the objects and saw his equipment, the folder containing Yuki, canisters and the bomb on the bottom. Nothing appeared to be misplaced or broken so he took out a photo from the folder and closed the case. Kyon was taking note of the room. The glasses highlighted the room, resembling the size of the kitchen in that abandoned house they used to time travel out of his and Haruhi's period. There was no furniture and the paint appeared to show signs of peeling from the walls and the ceiling along with a faint putrid odor in the air. There was a barred window on the opposite wall. He assumed they were in another abandoned building. Haruhi stood up, observed the room, and walked over to the window. At first, she thought they were in a warehouse or abandoned building, but judging by the view of the city skyline before her, they were in a high-rise building. Haruhi took off her glasses to get a clearer view and was mesmerized at what she saw.

"Kyon look at this." Haruhi said.

Kyon walked over to the window and was awestruck at the cityscape before him. There were many high-rise buildings of different shapes and bright lights, some almost extending towards the opaque sky. That's when he noticed the sky. He removed his glasses and saw that it was night, but the sky didn't resemble a typical night sky. It resembled the dark skies he remembered in Closed Space. He tried to analyze the temperature within the room and it felt cool to the touch as he touched the wall.

Makoto came up to the window to look at the skyline. He had been through ancient lands, modern day travels, even to futuristic cities like this one, but the skyline before him resembled a familiar city he traveled to before. In fact, judging by the tall cylindrical building that hovered over much of the smaller buildings to the left, he had once entered that building on a stealth mission. That mission involved collecting and destroying information that could have caused leaders on the planet to turn all humans that existed on the planet to humanoid interfaces to dominate a race of machines. It would have started in this city first before spreading throughout the entire planet. Ironically, the Data Overmind suggested it then, but they were a different organization under a different name at the time. Makoto sighed. Now wasn't the time to remember the past as he was on another mission in this same city to save Kyon and Haruhi's friend.

He looked at the color photo he pulled out of the folder of the Entity's headquarters and tried to distinguish which building housed the Entity. The building in the picture was a 12-story building in the shape of four rectangular cubes, each housing around two to three floors with a two-story base. He glanced at the base of the cityscape and saw the upper floors to the building hiding behind other buildings. In the photo, it was a dark colored building at the base; the cubes were a light teal blue color with dark colored windows reflecting the lights from other surrounding buildings. From where it was located, it looked like a sore thumb with the smaller buildings surrounding it and the taller buildings cowering behind it. The symbol of the three shaped half moons along with the letters "IDSE" was perched on the side of the building and at the main street level in the photo.

"There's the building where Yuki is." Makoto said as he pointed towards the building.

Kyon and Haruhi saw the upper floors of the cubed building down below in the city. It looked unusual from the other buildings but Kyon assumed that if they were this "extremely advanced facility," they'd probably want a building that stood out.

Makoto took a moment to check his watch for time and remembered what ΛETO told him about the dimension of this universe. Different from the past time periods in Haruhi and Kyon's time, along with where his contacts were located, there were no days, but there was a month and year along with time. ΛETO had told him this dimension went through a cycle where the letters in a month indicated how many days were in that month. For example, if it was January, there were seven days. September was the longest month and May was the shortest. Overall, a year consisted of 74 days. If there were scientific reasons for 74 days in a dimension opposed to 365 days or different from past dimensions Makoto traveled through, it wasn't an importance to the mission as he expected to spend one day there to save Yuki. As for the time, time was in military time, which right now was at 1403 hours, (2:03pm in regular time). As for why it was night in a typical afternoon, the sky always remained dark because the planet was nowhere near a sun and not within a galaxy where a sun existed. As for how people could live with no sun, Makoto didn't try to analyze the scientific dimensions of the planet for he didn't know and didn't ask. The last mission where the last organization sent him here didn't go over these details and they gave him a time warp device to go there and come back. Which reminded him...

Makoto checked his watch to confirm the date and noticed the year they were in. Kyon looked at Makoto then looked at his watch. Where "July 4098" indicated the month and year respectively, Kyon's eyes widened. "Are we really that far in time?" he asked. Haruhi glanced away from the stunning skyline to look at his watch and was shocked.

"Apparently so. That explains the futuristic city we're in." Makoto said in astonishment. Actually, he knew they were in the third day of July 4098 because that was the date ΛETO told him the Entity would terminate Yuki. They even had an approximate time for when the Entity would undergo her termination: 1800 hours. That gave Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi three hours and fifty-six minutes to get Yuki or they would be too late.

Makoto quickly checked to see if his device would work in this dimension as he set it to take them to a time period within the dimension as a test. It made the typical sounds of computer beeps when he dabbed at it. If the watch could confirm a course, his watch would vibrate on his arm to indicate that the confirmation was complete. Instead of vibrating, the device made an error sound to indicate it could not confirm a course.

Haruhi had noticed the error sound and Makoto's face showing concern. "Makoto, what is it?"

"I think the time-traveling option has been affected by this dimension." He tried again where he made a test course to go to back to Earth in a certain time period but again, his watch made the same error sound. He checked the time zone tracking and got nothing. However, the compass and GPS device did work and gave a detailed map of where they were located in the city. He made a checkpoint of where the Entity was on the map so they wouldn't get lost. He could use the phone option to check for information, but he didn't have time. Now he understood why Kevin showed concern for the watch. Of the dimensions he traveled and teleported to in the past and future, including this one where he didn't have the watch before, his watch wouldn't be able to transfer them to another time period or back to Earth when the time came to escape. Makoto made a frustrating sigh. If his time traveling device didn't work, they would have to go to that tech lab Kevin mentioned and find those time warp devices. That was if they were there and the Entity didn't destroy them.

"So what does that mean now?" Kyon asked, his voice sounding of concern.

Makoto looked at Kyon. "It means when we get to the Entity, we have to look for that time warp device Kevin used to get out of this dimension."


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Unexpected Confrontations**

Makoto assumed it took them well over twenty minutes to reach the main level. The building had an elevator but it was out of order. A sign indicated they were on the 40th floor and they took the stairs to descend the building. During their descent of the staircase about midway down, they encountered people loitering in the stairway. The people looked dirty and appeared homeless. The air also became musky and the stairs started to show cracking and debris from trash. There were corridors leading to the stairway, giving light that they were in a residential high-rise apartment or slang for rundown housing project. Kyon and Haruhi became worried that these people may cause harm but they didn't and moved out of the way. Makoto wondered how people in this building would be able to ascend and descend so many steps in a poorly constructed building with no adequate elevator system.

They made it out onto the main level. The road they were on was empty and had a few lampposts brightening the street. The environment however was depressing: Trash littered the curbs and boards covered several windows on other buildings nearby to indicate abandonment or looked to be on the verge of collapse. This wasn't only a housing project; this "area" was a modern day slum in a futuristic world. Makoto checked the GPS and noticed the Entity was behind them about 1.5 kilometers away. Not long within walking distance, but probably a long walk through Hell judging by the shabby neighborhood. He wondered why Kevin couldn't teleport them to a better area.

"This way." Makoto said has he guided them and the case down the street. They made a right turn onto another deserted, trash-ridden lighted street and walked towards a busy thoroughfare. Just like they did on the way to the abandoned house, Makoto walked in front, but Haruhi was behind him to his left and Kyon was walking next to her on her right. He put back on the night infrared glasses so he could pay close attention to his surroundings and use his keen hearing for any noises that didn't come from him or Kyon and Haruhi. It wasn't long before they approached an intersection when Makoto heard the faint sounds of tiptoeing and heavy breathing behind them, particularly coming from behind the direction of Haruhi. He turned around towards Haruhi just to see two men in the distance running towards them. The lighting from the lampposts indicated they had to be human and their clothes were ragged. One of them had an object in their hands.

"Haruhi move out of the way!" Makoto said as he pushed Haruhi out of harm's way, and pressed his right palm over his watch to prepare a charge. Kyon turned around and noticed the men coming closer. He got in front of Haruhi to protect her. He wasn't expecting to encounter anyone that would do harm to them but in an area like this, it was possible. Haruhi took a glimpse at the approaching men and gasped. She stood behind Kyon and clutched the sleeve to his gakuran, hoping he would protect her as Makoto told him to do.

"What you got in the case man? We just want to see the case." said the shorter man on the left in jeans and an open shirt. The other man who was taller and was dressed in shorts and a dirty t-shirt quickly approached Makoto. The object he was carrying in his right hand appeared to be 12 inches long, resembling either a knife or small wooden bat.

Makoto didn't wait for the man to strike first and lifted his right palm off his watch. The man with the object—a metal pipe—tried to strike Makoto but Makoto caught the pipe with his left hand and placed his right palm on his chest. It was then he noticed another discovery: not only could his watch not time travel, it could not produce the stun charge when in the need of attack. The man grabbed Makoto's right hand with his opposite and tried to head butt him, but Makoto lifted his left foot into his stomach to free himself and extended his left arm back against his right shoulder in preparation to execute a heel palm strike.

The shorter man was egging his "friend" to keep going at fighting Makoto while the taller man still clutching the pipe made a snide smirk. Apparently, these two must have been out to cause harm to those that weren't supposed to be in the neighborhood. Makoto assumed that as the short one was observing the taller man as a learning tool for attacking people. "Let's see what else you got." The man said as he quickly approached Makoto again in an attempt to attack him with the pipe again. The man swung harder but Makoto again caught the pipe with his right hand and extended his left hand in a fast vertical fashion where the heel of his palm stuck the man under his chin. The force of the strike caused the man to fly backwards and hit the ground a few feet away from Makoto. The metal pipe that was in the man's hand flew into the air and clanged on the ground a few feet behind him. He tried to get up but the severe pain in his jaw prevented him from getting back up and he resorted to choking while clutching his throat to breathe.

Makoto stared at the man on the ground, ready to attack him again if he got back up. His accomplice who earlier had a tough-guy attitude looked scared and started trembling. Makoto looked at the short man coldly and began to approach him. Not wanting to fight Makoto, the shorter man cowardly ran off into an alley as his loud footsteps became distant.

He walked back to the man on the ground that was still having a hard time breathing. Kyon and Haruhi who had been away from the confrontation approached Makoto and kept a short distance from the injured man. The man on the ground looked up at Makoto and tried to say something but the words couldn't leave his mouth. The only thing that appeared to leave his mouth was some blood by the side of his lip.

"You stay there," Makoto said, "Don't even try to get back up. If you're going to get back up, you can be smart enough to do what your friend did: run away." Like a child scolded for doing a very bad thing, the man crawled backwards to get up and followed Makoto's advice by running off, but in a different direction than his accomplice did.

He turned to see Kyon and Haruhi standing there shocked at what just happened. Kyon couldn't think he could defend Haruhi if Makoto wasn't able to defend himself and the men would have gotten the best of him and Makoto before assaulting Haruhi. Makoto approached Kyon and Haruhi to ask if they were all right. They nodded and walked faster through the neighborhood, Haruhi continuing to clutch Kyon's arm as he and Makoto checked their surroundings for additional threats. They didn't want to stay there any longer so that the bastards would notify their posse and come looking for them. Right now, they wanted to get out of that neighborhood as quickly as possible and Kyon and Haruhi's safety was Makoto's main priority. Deeming the watch obsolete with no method of stunning those who posed as a threat, Makoto would have to defend any oncoming threats with hand-in-hand combat or through other means.

While the trip through the dark, dirty and disgusting neighborhood lasted a half kilometer in six minutes, they finally made it to the main roadway that had more human traffic and walked the remaining one kilometer through a vibrant metropolis of tall buildings and bright lights. The scene walking down the road was fascinating. If Man had saw how this world looked through Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi's eyes, he would ditch his boring world for this one. There were many people out on the streets just like in a normal setting: Some were at cafés sipping coffee and tea while reading newspapers, the most popular among readers was the _Orion Republic_. Some were chatting on what looked like cell phones, but instead of a phone, they were speaking into a watch. Makoto took a glance at one woman speaking loudly at her watch with self-importance. She noticed him staring at her and gave him a "what-the-hell-are-you-staring-at" look. Makoto shook his head and smiled.

Many people were laughing and talking among one another as some—Haruhi guessed they were humanoid interfaces—didn't talk to anyone and walked by, not amused to their surroundings. A tall man that was almost Makoto's height walked by Haruhi, had an expressionless face and showed no emotion, resembling that of what she saw in Yuki. Another humanoid walked by chatting into a phone like the woman earlier, but instead of a human conversation, it was a monotone conversation.

Traffic zipped by in a fast pace as the vehicles were futuristic in appearances and drove on the same direction as they did in Japan. Kyon realized what Kevin said about a world where humans and humanoid interfaces live together, but wondered how the humans on this planet could deal with the other humanoid interfaces when it came to conversations. He remembered to look to his side to check on Haruhi. She had let go of his sleeve while she was observing the vibrant environment. After that earlier confrontation, he wanted to make sure she was okay. "Are you all right?"

Haruhi looked at him. "I'm fine. I just didn't know Yuki came from this place."

He thought he would see an eccentric Haruhi marveling the cityscape but she wasn't smiling. He was hoping she didn't have any ideas about this place. "You're not going to say you like this place than the place we come from?"

Haruhi gave him an offended look. "No. I won't accept a place that took our silent member in our SOS Brigade. If we have to create chaos to get her back, then we must do it." She said the last part by balling her fist.

Makoto slowed his pace so he could walk even with Kyon and Haruhi. "You're a strong girl Haruhi, but I want you and Kyon safe when _we_ create this chaos. We must stick together through the end, okay?"

"Right" Kyon and Haruhi said in unison.

The sightseeing trip ended as they were across the road from the cubed structure as all three of them glanced at the building housing the Integrated Data Sentient Entity.

"Here we are." Makoto said as he stared at the structure before them. To get inside, they would have to use the pedestrian bridge to cross the roadway, which became a highway of fast moving cars. Kyon sighed, as he didn't expect this would be the way to get Nagato away from the Entity. He imagined recreating the world with the help of Haruhi to bring Nagato back, but didn't think about what would happen if the Entity had interfered in getting her back without Makoto's assistance. Haruhi glanced at the structure before her as a light breeze blew in her shoulder length hair. _So this is where Yuki came from,_ she thought. She again thought to herself about what she had said before they were teleported to the city.

"_I know I have the ability to alter what I wish, but I would want something to happen to protect us if our lives are in danger at the Entity."_

Makoto observed many men and women entering the facility, carrying suitcases and rolling storage cases similar to the one Kevin gave him. Judging by the looks on their faces and with assistance from the lighting at the main entrance, he pictured some of the people entering the facility as humans while the majority was humanoid interfaces. To the side of the entrance, A heavy build security guard dressed in a uniform that resembled he was a member of an unknown army stood by the entrance like a vertical statue. Standing there motionless and not twitching or managing to stand straight, even the guard was a humanoid interface.

Makoto turned to face Haruhi and Kyon. "When we get into the building, we'll encounter security before moving inside," he said as he nodded towards the security guard, "Just act like you're my assistants and be calm. Be interested and look professional. Don't look nervous as these interfaces may be smarter than humans on reading emotions."

Haruhi and Kyon nodded their heads. Makoto looked at the entrance one last time and then said, "Let's go."


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Close Call**

Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi blended in with the incoming executives as they managed their way into the facility. Almost all the executives were wearing black as they walked through the lobby. Just as Makoto saw earlier, most of the executives were humanoid interfaces as some were humans. It was easy to tell who was what judging by their robotic or human movements and their faces as they walked or talked to one another inside the lobby. The lobby at the front was huge with a coffered ceiling and hard linoleum floor; the walls were a mix of wood veneering and stainless steel. The lighting was ambient, making the color of the lobby an amber finish. When they were outside, they were not able to see what was inside the lobby but as they were in there, they saw the view of the highway as traffic zipped by. Some people were sitting at benches gathering documents and talking to other executives.

Makoto guided Kyon and Haruhi towards the security check ahead. More straight faced security guards stood by the sides to the metal detectors as some were analyzing those going through the gate. There were four gates open to go through.

"You guys go through first. I'll go in last just in case." Makoto said to Kyon and Haruhi. Makoto figured that Kyon and Haruhi didn't have anything on them that would set an alarm off and prevent them from passing security. He still had thoughts about the storage case that it would somehow show up through the x-ray scanner with more than "documents and prototype devices." Hopefully, their ID badges and their data in the system should make passing through the security check a breeze.

Kyon and Haruhi split into separate lines behind other executives to await going through the security check as Makoto took the far right line. Because Haruhi was in a faster moving line, she was the first to go through security. A sign telling employees to swipe their ID cards was visible before the metal detector. As it was Haruhi's turn, she swiped her ID card. The guard told her to wait before going through the metal detector as the information on the card came on screen. He observed the data regarding her card and it confirmed a verification check. "Miss, walk through the detector." said the guard in a monotone voice. Obeying him, Haruhi walked through the metal detector. Technically, "metal detector" wouldn't be the right terminology to call the machine, as it looked like a large ring. It was wide as the hallway, leaving room for two guards to look at an x-ray scanner that was on both sides of the ring. The scanner detected any objects on a person's body or a concealed case through the reading of three large transparent green lasers that a person had to walk through. She walked through the ring slowly. She didn't hear any sounds and wondered if it was okay for her to proceed. She looked at the guard standing by the ring and he said, "You passed through, you can proceed miss."

Kyon was next to go through security. Same with Haruhi, he swiped his card and the guard told him to walk through the detector. He walked through the ring only for the ring to make an alarming sound. _"Object detected. Object detected."_ The section of the large transparent lasers where Kyon walked through flashed yellow. Kyon became nervous when the ring made the sound. Haruhi looked at Kyon puzzled as Makoto became concerned while still in line and tried not to show it in his face. What did he have on him that Makoto didn't know?

Kyon realized why the alarm might have gone off. From the beginning of the time travel trips, Kyon carried his cell phone with him. He forgot to put it in his bag before Makoto sent him and Haruhi to Tanabata and noticed it back at the mansion. He didn't tell Makoto or Haruhi about the phone and just kept it with him. He saw how others who had phones disguised as a watch walked through the ring with no problems, but what was in the cell phone that caused the ring to go off? The guard that was standing in front of the X-ray scanner close to Kyon approached him.

"There is an item in your left coat pocket. May I see it please?" the guard said.

The machine was very intelligent to indicate where the object was. Kyon reached in his left pocket to collect the phone and gave it to the guard. The guard looked at it, and then asked, "What is the use of this device?"

Kyon could tell him it was just a basic cell phone but thought if he did, the guard probably would ask more redundant questions. Instead, he came up with a solution. "That's a new prototype device for the army disguised as an old modern cellular phone. I'm still doing research on it." Kyon tried not to show his nervousness in his face or his tone as he talked to the guard. He was hoping the guard wouldn't start a conversation about the stupid phone. Unfortunately...

"What is the device expected to do?"

Kyon looked at the phone and then looked at him. He thought of what Ethan told them who he was back at the mansion. "Weaponry but still in research. May be used for tactical forces."

Kyon thought the guard would catch him in a lie as he stared at the phone then looked back at Kyon. The guard looked back at the phone, even opened up the phone to analyze it and shut it. The series of time travel trips had caused the battery in the phone to go dead. Thinking they would direct him to a hidden area for further questioning on the phone, the guard handed the phone back to Kyon. "You can proceed sir."

Kyon took the phone, stored it in his pocket and stood next to Haruhi while waiting for Makoto to go through the ring. Haruhi started at Kyon hard. It made him slightly irritated. "What?" he said.

"Nothing." Haruhi said looking away.

Last was Makoto. After swiping his card and proceeding through the ring with the storage case in tow, the alarm went off again proving Makoto's doubt about the case, but instead of warning of one object, the machine said, _"Code 4R. Code 4R."_ The lasers that were green and flashed yellow when Kyon walked through became red. Makoto quickly moved away from the lasers, concerned that if he stood in their path, the lasers would have trapped him. Makoto became concerned with the "Code 4R," as he didn't know what that code meant or was concerned it would send every security force rushing to the lobby. A few executives that were in the line stared at Makoto while Kyon and Haruhi stood there concerned as Makoto was. Two guards approached Makoto, one standing near the ring at the X-ray screen and the other that was watching executives enter the ring from the front. The one that was watching executives appeared to have a glock-like weapon holstered on his belt. Makoto knew it wasn't a firearm but maybe that of a laser gun.

"Sir," said the straight face guard that watched the X-ray screen, "I need to know the contents of your case." The other guard stood by Makoto while eyeing the case.

Makoto remembered what Kevin told him: _"[you] will be disguised as an engineer who creates and designs devices."_ "I'm an engineer designing new devices for tactical forces. What's in the case are some prototypes of these devices."

Both guards looked at the case. Makoto didn't know how many cases these two had seen pass through security before he showed up and was getting impatient as they looked confused. Right now, he was hoping he didn't have to use intervention early, as it could prevent them from reaching Yuki, wherever she was in this building. Acting impatient, he stood there without saying another word while waiting for the humanoid interfaces to make up their mind on whether to let him through or check the case. He was just hoping these interfaces weren't that intelligent that they'd do the former and not the ladder and at least let him through.

"Sorry sir, but we'll have to check your case."

Apparently not.

Makoto sighed. "Fine." Makoto stood there while the guard closest to the case bent down and unleashed the latches to open the case. He looked towards Kyon and Haruhi who were still standing by the ring. They became very concerned while observing Makoto as the guard was close to opening the case. The guard that was close to Makoto noticed them staring at him and asked, "Do you know those people staring at you?"

Makoto looked towards Kyon and Haruhi. He should have told them to keep moving after passing security. "They're my assistants for my work." He told the guard. The guard took another glance at them before focusing on the case again.

The other guard finally opened the case and looked at the items inside the case. Kyon and Haruhi turned around and were concerned something bad would happen soon. Makoto knew Ethan and Kevin had placed the metallic objects in his case to hide the hidden dangers inside, but he worried if the scanner had picked up the bomb and canisters along with his equipment. Then again, he was also worried that the guard would look through the objects and find the items inside. That's when he noticed a black folder on the edge of the case. He had tucked the ΛETO folder underneath the objects, and he didn't notice that folder when he looked though the case earlier. After looking at the metallic objects without touching them, the guard pulled the folder out and analyzed the documents. After a moment went by from looking through the documents, he placed the folder back in and closed the case. "Okay sir. You can proceed."

Makoto made a frustrating sigh and took the case to meet up with Kyon and Haruhi, who were facing the second half of the entrance to the Entity. Whatever Ethan and or Kevin did to the case to only show electronic prototypes of devices and documents was a plus, but it almost damn near got him caught. _They shouldn't check the case Kevin said_, Makoto thought. _Such lies._

"You guys ready?" he said as he continued forward towards the second half of the lobby.

Kyon and Haruhi quickly caught up to him. "Yeah. Any trouble?" Kyon asked.

"Almost," Makoto said in a whisper so no one could hear him, "Let's just get Yuki while we still can and get the hell out of here."

They walked through another set of doors that led into the second half of the lobby.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Hidden Pleasures**

The second half of the lobby was still encased in the stainless steel and now stone wood veneering with brighter white lighting as the ceiling opened up to reveal the next floor up. A large skylight was on the roof of the upper floor, showing the dark sky above them. Large pots with trees and plants branching between 6 to 10 feet tall into the air stood by the walls on both floors, making the inside feel like an outdoor mall in a tropical paradise. There were large windows along some of the walls, but instead of looking outside, these were digital renderings of another futuristic city modified for the interior of the lobby. The renderings pictured a dark city skyline different to the one Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi saw outside. _Was this a city inside a city, _Makoto thought.

More people—and humanoids—were walking though the lobby, about some in professional attire and the rest in casual wear. The Entity appeared to be strict on the color black because what everyone wore regarding tops, dresses, jeans, and shoes was straight black.

There were glass elevators, stairs and escalators extending to the second floor of the lobby. Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi boarded an elevator that would take them to next floor up. Already tight squeezed by more executives and people in casual wear, they ascended the crowded elevator to the next level.

The elevator opened, revealing the second floor just like the first floor: another outdoor mall. The same feel of stone wood veneering with stainless steel made the environment a mix of medium greys and whites. As they saw on the walk to the Entity, this floor consisted of shops and restaurants of all kind. More people were in this section of the building, but instead of professional dress, most were in casual wear. Makoto did notice a few executives that were on the elevator head towards a section of the outdoor mall where more executives were waiting to board another elevator. Above them was a sign indicating the location to tech labs and offices within the building. Makoto assumed that was the elevator to ascend to the top to reach Yuki. He also noticed some people stationed near the executive elevator boarding another elevator with a sign for residential housing. Kevin had strictly mentioned about how to get inside and did mention that the Entity would look different than a government building, but judging by the shops, restaurants, offices and now residential housing, was this indeed the Data Integration Thought Entity?

"Do people actually live at this place?" Kyon asked Makoto. Before they went through the front entrance, Kyon was picturing a sort of top-secret facility with armed guards where they would go in and find Yuki in a shut-in room on the top floor. Instead, what he had seen so far was a building that appeared to be a hotel, a mall, a residential area and appeared to have labs and offices all in one.

"Well, Kevin said he lived here and that it wouldn't look like a government building. I was expecting a secret military or federal facility instead of this." Makoto said. He looked at the area of the elevators again and noticed a majority of people planning to go up to the tech labs and offices while some were going up the elevator to residential housing.

Makoto checked his watch for time and found out it was 1558 hours. It had taken them almost two hours to get this far but they still had another two hours to get Yuki. Although it could wait, he still had to tell Kyon and Haruhi on who abducted her and their involvement in this mission. They said they were willing to save Yuki, but hopefully all the convincing from himself and Kevin made them understand the serious risks of saving her. Those risks did include doing harm or receiving harm to save her.

"Come here." Makoto said as he directed Kyon and Haruhi towards a café to an open table. They sat at the table and Makoto looked into the case and collected the folder containing documents related to Yuki's disappearance. He carefully glanced around when going into the case, for the possibility that someone was watching and he was still wasn't ready for hostile intervention on that floor. He kept the front end of the folder against his chest so no one would see the lettering on the front or the name of the person on the tab. He didn't know if anyone walking through this building knew who ΛETO was and thought it'd be better if no one knew. He slid one of the documents under the table towards Kyon. "I want you guys to look at this document I'm handing you under the table. Keep it under the table. This is the person in charge of the Entity and who is responsible for taking Yuki."

Kyon and Haruhi observed the document from under the table. The document had information regarding Tamotsu Hatoyama. He was the president of the Entity and Yuki's boss as Kyon would later find out. His photo only showed his face that looked similar to photos of men in the military. He had a medium black razored hairstyle and judging by his face, he looked older. Reading some of the text in the document, similar to that of a resume, Kyon and Haruhi noticed he was once in the military from some army in this dimension. The document went on about his career life but Kyon and Haruhi were more interested in the photo.

"So this is the man who abducted Yuki?" Haruhi whispered.

Makoto nodded before crossing his arms on the table and then went straight to the point. "What we want to do is avoid him as much as possible. What Kevin said back at the mansion about him is similar to what ΛETO told me. This guy is a hard one. I understand what you meant about using peace than violence Haruhi, but like before, peace is nonexistent to him. You either fight him and win or lose and die. That's probably what we'll have to do in order to get Yuki." He addressed Haruhi. "I'm quoting you earlier on what you said about creating chaos. Chaos results in anarchy, which can lead to violence. That's what we'll have to do. You probably don't want to do that but it may be the only way. We can try peace, but sadly, I think that will get us killed. Personally, I don't want to get close to him so let's try to make this a stealth mission and get Yuki quickly but quietly."

Haruhi looked back at the document. She remembered what Kyon told her regarding Yuki before and what they would do if she did disappear. She meant her word when she said she would do anything to save Yuki, even if that meant creating havoc. If Makoto said the only way to get her back was through violence, then she was willing to take the challenge. However, Kyon was beginning to have thoughts. "I know what we can expect regarding security, but what are our chances of getting caught and what should we do if we're caught?"

Haruhi looked at Kyon with concern. Makoto sucked in his breath. There were missions in the past where enemies caught Makoto and he had to fight them to get away, and then there were times when opponents almost killed him but he would have backup or a distraction to get away. Because he was in an "extremely highly advanced" facility, he didn't want to think of a negative outcome if security forces captured them. While not concerned about the bomb due to its density of destruction, he had concerns about the device Ethan gave him that would disrupt security systems. If that device didn't do the job, security could catch them. Haruhi had said she wished for protection if in the event they ran into trouble, but she'd be useless if her powers didn't exist in this dimension and they all in trouble. With Kyon and Haruhi with him, they were the King and Queen of their time period. If anything happened to them, the Entity would kill him before ΛETO would.

"Makoto?" Kyon asked. Makoto got lost in thought about what Kyon asked earlier and shook his head.

"If Ethan's device helps us, it could be easy in helping us get Yuki without being detected by her boss or security. If it doesn't, then we'll have to use hostile intervention. That in other words means defending ourselves, even if we have to do harm. If we're caught, I don't even want to know, but we won't have backup to save us if we are caught." He looked towards Haruhi as he put his hand on his face. "I just hope you'll have your powers to help us if we are caught or to cause damage to the Entity."

Kyon looked at Haruhi. Haruhi tried to think about the "powers" she had within her. She did remember during the movie how she wanted cherry blossoms for a scene and surprisingly, they blossomed at the wrong time of the season. It could have been a coincidence at the time, but she didn't think she was capable of causing that. She continued to look at the document under the table. She didn't want Yuki to leave, and if her life was in danger, she didn't want anything to happen to her.

She sighed and then said, "I don't want to lose Yuki, but I won't leave without her." She got up. At first, she looked gloomy, but her face showed determination. She remembered to stay silent so she wouldn't attract attention. "Let's not waste time talking. We have to get her."

Kyon looked towards Makoto. "I've already been through a lot like you said Makoto. I guess I can get involved in another disaster. But we have to do this." He handed the document that was in his hand back to Makoto and got up. "Come on. We have to get her."

Makoto looked at Kyon and Haruhi with a smile. They wouldn't back down and let an organization do harm to their friend, and they were willing to sacrifice their lives and cause Hell to save Yuki. He was impressed. "Well, hot dammit, let's do this mission."

They got up and walked towards the elevator that went to the tech labs and offices. Waiting with other humans and humanoid interfaces, they took the elevator to the seventh floor. Before they could ascend further into the building, Makoto wanted to check to see if the time warp devices were there on the next floor up as Kevin said and place the bomb somewhere on that floor. Time would get tight and they had to do this since they had an hour and fifty minutes to get Yuki and get out of there. As the door to the elevator closed, they remained calm and ascended the elevator into the pits of Hell.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: The Real Enemy**

A man was sitting in his office as he typed in data for a document on his computer screen. His office was on the eleventh floor of the Entity, just one more floor up to the interrogation rooms. The clattering of keys on the keyboard echoed throughout the room as if the keyboard was a typewriter. He didn't want to be the one to type in the data for this particular document, but since he was in charge of everything regarding the Entity, he had to do it. It had been a day ago since an undercover team secretly snuck in that time period on Earth in March 2011 where they had to take a certain person away—in custody—back to the Entity for her punishment. There were negotiations about doing this action, but in his words, those who were with the Entity who violated protocol had to suffer the consequences.

He knew he could trust her to do her job, but she went against the Entity for her actions. Her job was to observe humanity and Haruhi Suzumiya due to a data flare that Haruhi created at the time, but her job was _not_ to alter the universe to give the one closet to her a choice at life. He hated how even the littlest fault could cause an interface to engage in drastic actions on their own that could result in the modification or destruction of precious data. He couldn't take the chance of her or any other interface doing that again and decided by learning from Yuki's mistakes, he would set her as an example on what interfaces faced if they ever tried something that stupid.

After typing in the data, the man lay back in his chair and analyzed what he had put in the document. The title "AUTHORIZATION TO TERMINATE" was at the top in bold letters, followed by the data on the bottom, which consisted of her name, gender, species and reason for termination. Clearly, he had written six pages for Yuki's termination, but in shorter form, it was simply this:

_Violation of Section 9, Article 6R5GST: Stole powers from being during mission to alter universe to become human being. Subject knew her actions and did not follow orders within herself or the Entity._

After overlooking the document, he printed the article and signed it in his name. On the last page was his signature in cursive and written: Tamotsu Hatoyama.

He glanced at the document for a moment before placing the article in a folder, which he would put in the file cabinet by his desk. He had closed the file cabinet when the doors to his office opened, revealing a woman of about 5 feet, 8 inches. Her long blonde hair swayed as she walked towards his desk. He knew why she was here. She had been working with a team downstairs to create a new humanoid interface that would surpass any current interface, including those of Yuki Nagato and Ryoko Asakura. She stopped when she approached his desk, leaving five feet between herself and the desk. She then spoke. "Tamotsu, I just got back from the Manufacturing floor. The interface is now ready and is upstairs in the conference room so you can speak with her. I hope this interface will exceed your expectations."

Just looking at the woman standing before his desk would make one person believe she was human. Her movements didn't resemble that of a robot but almost close to human. The woman that was standing in front of Hatoyama's desk was in fact a humanoid interface. She was the first of an advanced version than the normal interfaces that roamed throughout the city or inside the Entity. Of those advancements, one of them was her voice, which resembled what you would hear from a text to speech voice of a female in English, but that was one of her many voices. She could speak in other fluent languages as well. Tamotsu hated the typical monotone voice interfaces had when they spoke, and had hers changed to that of a TTS per request of the Manufacturing department. However, the woman before him was not only a humanoid interface or an associate to Tamotsu... She was his wife, which he created years ago.

He looked at her in awe, despite the fact that her face looked serious and lacked expression. He would of expected a smile to come from her after saying that or anything special, but any sense of emotions would have triggered her to either kill her owner—which she could of if the emotions within her caused flaws to kill Tamotsu—or cause herself to dismantle overtime and he'd have to resort to building another wife.

"Okay, Masako." Tamotsu said, "Let's have a look at this new interface you've created."

He got up from the desk and walked with her to meet the new interface. On the walk to the offices upstairs, he hadn't seen the development of her creation, for Masako would show him the new creation as a surprise for him. If she met his expectations, he would start the process of terminating Yuki shortly, but he didn't want any more screw ups. Not that anything occurred during the creation of the new interface, but he was referring to past screw ups involving those two girls that were sent to that boy and girl's time period for observation. He knew what that bastard and his group did by violating protocol long ago when he hacked into the interfaces to experiment with emotions, and the result caused them to dismantle or turn to kill like in Ryoko's case. Luckily, Yuki was able to terminate her for going on her own, but Yuki had to screw up later when somehow, a fault occurred in her due to the learning of emotions from the other four members of that stupid group. That was the information the officials in the observation floor told him the day the event occurred. If everything went as planned, he made sure the people in Manufacturing made a software program within interfaces to eliminate anything regarding emotional _and_ social development within their brains.

Arriving on the floor consisting of interrogation rooms and security offices, Tamotsu and his wife approached the double doors to the conference room. Masako put her ID card in the swipe reader but before she swiped her card, she looked towards Tamotsu. "Are you ready to see her?" she asked in the same voice she had earlier.

He put his hands in his coat pockets. "Let's see her." Tamotsu said.

Masako swiped her card and the doors opened, revealing the size of the room similar to that of Hatoyama's office. Standing in the middle of the room was a young girl. She was dressed in a school uniform with a brown jacket, similar to that of the uniforms girls wore of the high school the boy and girl attended. Her hair was in a kawaii hairstyle, which was long to her shoulders and wavy at her face, and was a light golden reddish brown color. A black headband was in her hair and her eyes were the color red. The look on her monotone face showed an expression that indicated she was capable of doing something dangerous soon.

Already impressed by her appearance, Tamotsu smiled and crossed his arms. She may have the looks, but he wanted to know more. Hopefully, Masako made sure this interface was perfect like her and would obey protocol and her mission. "So young one, who are you and what association do you work for?" he said in Japanese.

The interface before them said the following: "My name is Kamiko Maruyama and I am with the Integrated Data Sentient Entity."

Tamotsu nodded. She responded in Japanese, her voice almost sounding close to the TTS Japanese version of Kyoko. At least Masako remembered in the creation of this interface that she would not have a monotone voice. He asked her another question in English, this time the question referring to her purpose of the Entity. "And what will be your purpose for the Integrated Data Sentient Entity?"

Kamiko's eyes blinked as she responded in the new language. "My mission is to alter the environmental data that surrounds Haruhi Suzumiya and to terminate her organic life form and the data of those close to her."

There was more to her mission than just the alternating of data. She would take away the powers that existed within Haruhi, including that from the esper and the time traveler, and use those powers against them. By taking away their powers, that made them all human and they wouldn't be able to fight against Maruyama when the time came to eliminate their existence. There was that one human with no powers, but he would witness everything before Maruyama terminated him in the end. That's what the boy would get for challenging Tamotsu when he said he would cause the girl to recreate the universe to bring Yuki back. That boy had no idea by recreating the universe, Yuki would never come back, but he would make it where Kamiko would be there to punish him by killing every member of the SOS Brigade: starting with either the esper or time traveler, before moving on to Haruhi and then him. If he thought life was Hell before he got that girl to recreate the universe, it would only get worse.

Tamotsu nodded again, his smile becoming a smirk. Masako had done her duty. He could have cared less for what the people in the Manufacturing floor did by creating this girl, but this interface was a part of Masako: she may look cute on the outside, but she was dangerous on the inside. "You've done more than impressed me Masako," he said as he turned to face her, "We will celebrate your creation once I've terminated that girl. And we'll celebrate again when the time comes that the boy and girl will try to recreate their universe."

Masako didn't respond but nodded, indicating her acceptance for her achievement of pleasing Tamotsu.

He looked back at the young girl that was still standing in the middle of the room. He again spoke in Japanese. "Wait here Kamiko. I'll be right back to discuss further on your terms."

"Yes, Hatoyama-san." She responded.

She even knew his surname without the personal introductions. _Interesting_, he thought. He and Masako left the conference room and took the short walk down the corridor to the room where Yuki was in holding. He had already made his decision that he would terminate Yuki and that was that, but he made sure that she would know what would happen to her in advance before he began the termination. He looked at his watch to check the time and it was 1719 hours. He originally set the process for her termination at 1800 hours, which was 41 minutes away. Too long for him, but he could always override his decisions to where he saw fit.

They were approaching the door—room 1211—to the interrogation room where Yuki was inside. The guard by the door noticed them and pushed a hidden button by the door to gain entry inside. Hatoyama, his wife and the guard walked into the room to confront the girl, who was strapped to the chair awaiting her interrogation.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Set and Search**

Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi had exited the elevator on the seventh floor. The seventh and eighth floors consisted of separate labs ranging from chemistry to electronics. Hopefully on the eighth floor as Kevin said, the time warp devices would be there. If not, they would be stuck in that unknown world indefinitely if they survived, or succumb to the blast radius of the bomb if they didn't make it to safety. Right now, he needed to find an area on the seventh floor to place the bomb.

The earlier facades of high class veneering gave way to dark gray steel walls with green lighting, making the hallways reflect a green light finish. A sign suspended above the large lobby gave direction to the labs, as they began with the numeral one, followed by a letter ranging from A to H.

"This way." Makoto said as he went left from the elevator down a corridor towards labs 1B and 1F. Kyon and Haruhi followed closely. As they approached the first intersection that separated labs 1B, 1D, 1E and 1F, Makoto made a left down another hallway. The hallways were very long and Makoto resorted to walking faster since they were on a tight schedule. As the hallway made another left turn down another long-winded hallway, Makoto stopped. A sign of disgust showed on his face. Kyon and Haruhi also stopped behind him and looked at the corridor before them in astonishment. There were two other people walking along the corridor, but they were on the other side—which looked like a half kilometer away—where it banked left again back towards the central corridor and lobby.

Makoto went to turn around to backtrack to the previous intersection when he noticed a door for a maintenance room to his left. He approached the door and thought about swiping his card to see if he could gain access inside, then remembered a warning Kevin mentioned when Kyon and Haruhi were changing back at the mansion. Security monitored all corridors, elevators and stairwells throughout the Entity with hidden surveillance cameras, along with optical recognition systems secretly in place throughout the building to detect who was who and if said person was on the right floor or in the right area. Because Kevin assured Makoto that he inputted their information in the Entity's logs, they should be fine from the optical systems on the seventh to tenth floors, but the high risk existed on the top two floors. However, Makoto remembered what Kevin said about the case and how _that_ almost got him in trouble when passing through security.

"Now what?" Kyon mumbled, disgusted at the long-winded corridor. He was eager to find Yuki and get her before they attracted too much attention. He didn't want to be in this building for too long and he was getting nervous. Haruhi just stared at the corridor, but noticed a small group of people leave from lab 1D from an entrance near the end of the corridor. "Maybe we should go where they are coming out." She suggested to Kyon and Makoto.

Makoto thought about it, but shook his head. "We gotta keep moving." He turned around to head back to the main corridor as Kyon and Haruhi followed suit.

After backtracking to the central corridor to labs A and H, then walking down another series of long-winded right-turn corridors—that of the outer ring corridors as indicated on a map Makoto saw when walking—and after passing another door to an electrical area, they stopped in front of the double doors to lab 1A near the central corridor. With the GPS mode still working, Makoto looked at his watch to get an idea of what direction of the building they were in and the watch indicated they were along the northeastern wall. The lab, which didn't say much on the map but only by its numeral and letter covered much of the eastern wall, just as lab 1H covered the opposite side. A swipe reader was next to the doors to gain access inside. Before Makoto decided to tour the lab, he bent down to open the case and took out a square cube that was about the size of his hand. Kyon thought he heard Makoto mumble something before pushing a button on the device, which made a light beeping noise and vibrated in his hands. Makoto dabbed at the device again, which stopped the beeping and set the device back into the case.

"What was that?" Kyon asked cautiously, thinking the cube was the actual bomb.

"That's the device Ethan made to disrupt the security systems," Makoto said, "I just hope it works." He took a moment to look at his watch and noticed that the GPS function stopped working while time was still visible. The device was that of a modern disrupter, which would only jam security cameras, other security devices and GPS systems in that area to avoid detection. It could run indefinitely and interrupt systems within a 20-foot radius of the device, making the three of them undetected. After placing the device back in the case, Makoto got up and approached the swipe reader. He took his card out of his pocket and swiped, as the light on the reader went green. The doors opened in a sideways motion, revealing a technological laboratory.

The section of Lab 1A consisted of circuit construction for what appeared to be computers. Several large machines were scattered among the floor as technicians were attending them to construct processor chips and large motherboards. Makoto looked towards the left and noticed a man taking notes on a clipboard as he stared at an open closet. The closet was directly behind the electrical room that was along the corridor outside.

"Uh... Can I help you?"

A technician came from the right side behind another large machine. He was holding a motherboard the size of a small laptop and was in a black lab coat with goggles. His movements and voice indicated he was human.

Observing the equipment, Makoto directed his attention towards the technician. "You in charge of this section?" he said in a manner that made him sound like a man from the military.

"Uh, yes. May I ask why you are here?" the technician asked as he stared at Makoto with a stark look.

Makoto grabbed the man's open hand and shook it. "I'm with the Hudsontech Company. We've been upstairs waiting for your new processor and you're running late. I didn't drag my clients out here for nothing. Now get your employers and tell them to meet us on the tenth floor to start the meeting pronto."

The earlier look from the technician's face was replaced with confusion. "I-I don't know about a—"

Makoto let go of the handle to the case and crossed his arms. "They didn't tell you we were coming? Look, you got two minutes to get upstairs or you are going to lose a lot of money, the clients and your job. Don't make me tell your boss."

It was a diversion. That storage closet was a great area to place the bomb, but with too many witnesses, Makoto had to get the technicians out of that area to set the device.

Worried of the possible threat of his job and that of his team, the technician gathered the other men, took some samples of their work and hurried out the door to the tenth floor for their supposed meeting. "We'll be up there shortly. Don't screw up!" Makoto yelled as they round the corner towards the elevator.

When the doors closed after they left, Makoto hurried towards the storage closet. He opened the case again and took out the smaller case that contained the bomb when he noticed Kyon and Haruhi near him. He still couldn't show them his devices and the bomb... not yet actually. "Look around while I set this. You guys can't see this stuff." He said. Obeying him, Kyon and Haruhi turned around to view the large equipment while Makoto was in the process of setting the bomb.

It took Makoto five minutes to set the bomb—three minutes to arm it and store it behind the storage closet and two minutes to transmit signals between the unit and a small remote with a digital timer. Makoto told Kyon and Haruhi that the bomb would begin a timed countdown before detonation after pushing a button. The remote would begin a countdown ranging from however minutes needed to escape before the bomb detonated. The device Ethan made would not interfere with transmitting signals to the bomb, for the disrupter would only interrupt security systems. Before leaving the lab, Makoto pressed a button that tested if the remote could retrieve a signal and a green light showed, indicating it could detect the bomb.

After leaving the lab, they took the elevator to the eighth floor to find the time warp devices. Making a right from the elevator, they walked along the corridor until it ended at the wall dividing Labs 2A and 2F. Makoto remembered that Kevin said that the time warp devices were in Lab 2B, but judging by how long ago Kevin had been here before he escaped and an unknown length of years later, anyone could have moved them to a different lab on that floor, or a different area on another floor.

Makoto looked at his watch. 1634 hours.

"Kevin told me that those devices were in Lab 2B when he escaped. Hopefully like he said, they are there, but it'll be a pain if we have to look through the entire lab or the other labs."

They walked down the corridor that bordered Labs 2A and 2B, and came to a door to the northeastern section of the lab. Makoto asked Kyon to swipe his card this time. The doors to Lab 2B opened, revealing another laboratory of computer terminals along with laser cutting machines. At the corner were two gamma ray machines and several computer cases stacked on several shelves along the back wall. Another technician who looked older was at a computer terminal and noticed Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi looking around at the equipment. Makoto thought he would have to tell this man to leave but the man nodded his head and went back to whatever was important on his screen. That's when Makoto noticed the large display case a little ways past the man at the terminal and walked towards it.

The display case had four devices: two of them resembling the "phone" Kevin showed them at the mansion and the other two resembled a modern version of a television remote. Clearly, they could tell they were the time warp devices by the signs of the familiar buttons that were on the device in Kevin's hand.

"Are those the time warp devices?" Haruhi asked.

Makoto was about to answer when someone else spoke up.

"They are."

They turned around to notice the technician still sitting at his terminal looking at them. "You guys look new. Are you set to work in this laboratory?"

Kyon and Haruhi looked at Makoto, thinking he would use the same excuse he did at the laboratory downstairs.

"No," Makoto said, "I'm in the process of inspecting each lab for any problems. These people are with me to handle the inspection. Just checking to make sure everything is followed by code." _Another diversion._

The technician stood up and walked towards Makoto. For a moment, Makoto thought the man would cause trouble. The technician then looked at Kyon and Haruhi, and proceeded to walk towards the devices in the case to look.

"I control much of this lab," said the man, "so I have to keep an eye out for what occurs here. Had a guy long ago break in here and did something I can't explain. Caused a big problem and a lot of people were mad. We fixed the problem then, so there are no problems here."

Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi knew who that _guy_ was. They would be that same guy later when they got Yuki and used one of those devices to escape.

Makoto nodded his head and looked around at the other equipment. He didn't have time to observe everything but was only here to confirm that the devices would still be here. He nodded to the man and they left the lab but through another set of doors to the inner ring corridor towards the elevator. As they were walking between labs 2B and 2C, a maintenance robot was moving the opposite direction. That's when Makoto noticed another maintenance room, but the door to this one was open. He glanced back at the robot, which rounded the corner out of sight. _That's odd,_ Makoto thought. Not hesitating and looking at both directions of the ends to the corridor, he quickly walked in to assess what was inside.

"Makoto, what are you doing?" Haruhi asked nervously.

Not answering her, he glanced at the floor and noticed a tool bag similar in size to that bag he had when he traveled to Kyon and Haruhi's time period. There was nothing inside the bag and he was about to walk out when he also noticed rope on a shelf. He overheard Kyon calling him, so he grabbed the rope, threw it in the bag, and walked out of the closet to put the items in the case. He thought someone was coming but the corridor was empty.

"Sorry about that," Makoto said. Kyon and Haruhi both sighed.

As they were approaching the elevator to ascend to the upper floors, Makoto reminded them to remember where the devices were, as he could not make a reference point with the GPS on his watch. He also reminded them again the dangers of what they were getting into and they assured him they knew the risks and would remember how to get back to the lab that contained the time warp devices. They walked into the elevator as the doors opened and Makoto pushed the button for the twelfth floor to the interrogation rooms and security offices. As the doors closed, Haruhi turned to ask Makoto how many times he did missions similar to the one they were doing right now.

"Many, including dangerous ones like this one." He responded.

Kyon then asked, "And judging by the security, what do you think are our chances of getting caught?"

_That again,_ Makoto thought. He didn't have a ratio on whether they would fail or succeed in getting out of the Entity with Yuki, and he didn't think about any worst case scenarios unless they did happen suddenly. "To be honest with you Kyon, I have no idea. And try not to think about worst case scenarios and let's focus on what we are doing."

Makoto could not answer Kyon's question and he didn't want to, for he didn't have an answer. The only hope they had if everything else failed was Haruhi. If she couldn't help them, then maybe he would think about his options. As he looked at the screen indicating the current floor, the elevator was approaching the twelfth floor. Now entering dark territory, Makoto took a sigh and waited as the doors opened.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Eavesdrop**

The elevator doors opened, revealing another green-lighted lobby, but this lobby branched in three different directions. Opposite of the elevators was a pathway to the interrogation area while two corridors wrapped back towards the other side of the building to security offices and conference rooms. The only difference this time was the pathway to the interrogation rooms: another security check.

This security check consisted of tall, heavy-duty steel construction doors that were almost 11 feet high. As one guard stood by one side of the door, another guard was standing at a podium that contained a swipe reader and a palm reader. For one to enter the interrogation area, they had to swipe their ID card and then place the palm of their right hand on the reader for a confirmation check. Despite the series of warnings Kevin mentioned about the Entity, including the security on this floor, he didn't mention about this particular security check. Their ID badges had worked on the ground floor when they got in, but Makoto was concerned that the palm reader would not identify him and if they started asking questions, it would lead into a serious problem.

They gradually approached the security check. The guard standing at the podium turned to face Makoto and said, "ID and reason for visit," in its monotone voice.

Makoto had memorized a speech in his head for what he would say if he had to encounter security before entering this area. In fact, he knew Yuki was not the only interface under interrogation at this particular moment. According to ΛETO, the Data Integration Thought Entity was in the process of interrogating other interfaces for wrongdoing or other incidents. Makoto showed his ID. "You have an interface in room 1209. I have to ask that interface some questions relating to an investigation."

"Reason for investigation?" the guard asked.

"That I cannot disclose with you. Confidential information only." Makoto responded.

The interface continued to look at Makoto, then saw Kyon and Haruhi standing behind him. "And these people are?"

"These people are here to assist in the investigation."

Kyon tried not to look nervous but Makoto's use of diversions was starting to worry him. Haruhi just stood there and made a light sigh.

The guard focused on a computer screen where he typed in the information for the interface in room 1209. Makoto did not need the name of the interface, but needed an excuse to get inside.

After observing the computer screen, the guard looked up and pointed to the swipe reader. "Swipe your ID."

Makoto swiped his ID and the reader indicated a green light. Of course, that wasn't the problem. The real problem was...

"Now place your right hand on the palm reader."

Makoto raised his right hand and placed it on the reader. As his palm was on the reader, the device scanned his hand downward then up. A second later, an error sound came up and the lighted pad turned red. The green light that was on the swipe reader became red.

"I'm sorry sir," the guard said, "but the reader does not identify your handprint in our system. Unless you can fix this problem at security downstairs, we cannot let you through." That was when the guard noticed something on the screen about Makoto. "And we cannot let you through because in our database, it says you are an engineer. You and them"—referring to Kyon and Haruhi—"do not have clearance to enter this part of the facility."

Makoto make a face that questioned what the guard had considered him. The interface must have read the expression on his face because he then said, "You do not have clearance. If there is a mistake, you need to talk to security on the first floor."

_Great,_ Makoto thought. He looked at the guard, then at the other guard who was now looking at him and then said, "Fine."

He turned around and motioned for Kyon and Haruhi to do the same as they walked back towards the elevator. They boarded the elevator and Makoto pressed the button for the tenth floor. The doors closed. "Well, looks like we'll have to get in there another way."

"How? Kyon asked.

Makoto checked his watch. 1650 hours. Another hour left.

"We'll have to get into the ventilation shaft and sneak our way through, but we can't do it from the tenth floor. I don't have the tools to ascend a vent shaft for the three of us, so we'll have to go back up there and find a way to get into the shaft."

The doors opened as they arrived on the tenth floor. Makoto remembered that he sent those technicians up here for a supposed meeting and was hoping he wouldn't run into them up here. As the doors opened and they walked out, they were on a floor that consisted mostly of offices with glassed walls, a section for the security division and infantry, along with an observation center: something Makoto recalled about Kevin being an observer for monitoring interfaces in different dimensions. With no sight of the technicians, he located the stairway near the corridor that bordered the offices on one side and the security division on the other, and they climbed the stairs back to the twelfth floor. It became a pain when Makoto had to drag the case up the stairs, as the case banged against the risers with a loud thump. After the seventh thump, Makoto asked Kyon to pick up his end of the case so they could carry the case upstairs and for Haruhi to walk in front of them to help him with the door once they got up there.

Passing the door to the eleventh floor and approaching the twelfth floor again, Haruhi open the door quietly so Makoto and Kyon could get through. There was no one in the corridor and a wall obscured their line of sight from the security check. "Turn left." Makoto whispered. They quietly walked down the corridor that bordered the security offices on the right and another room for infantry on the left until a row of conference rooms with clouded glass panels appeared as the security offices only had doors into the offices. Setting the case down on the floor at the first conference room, Makoto asked Haruhi to swipe her card to open the double door. Getting her card, she swiped her card and the doors opened.

"In here." Makoto said as he rolled the case into the room. Kyon and Haruhi followed as the doors closed behind them. The lights to the room came on, but Makoto noticed a switch for the lighting and pushed a button to turn them off. The room was fairly large and had a large oval table with chairs surrounding it along with pots of fake trees bordering the sides of the door. A large closet space boarded the back wall. The lighting from the corridor outside highlighted the area near the windows, but it was still dark in the back of the room.

"Get your glasses." Makoto said as he reached for his pair, referring to the night-infrared glasses that he provided them before they got here. Kyon and Haruhi put on their glasses and walked to the back end of the room. There, Makoto opened the case and collected the tool bag with rope inside he got from the maintenance room and began to load it with items from the case. As Kyon and Haruhi could see from the infrared glasses, they saw the items Makoto supposedly had hidden from them, as he transferred them from the case to the bag. Something that looked like a handheld motorized screwdriver went into the bag, along with another fancy looking gadget. The folder that had ΛETO on it, a knife, a large syringe with some type of liquid in it, the flashbombs and CR gas canisters went in, along with a harness and two large portable fixed pulleys with a tiny remote. A flashlight and the square cube—disrupter, which was still working—also went into the bag, filling the bag to its max capacity. Makoto unbuttoned his jacket and went back into the case for the last few items. The last set of items he pulled out of the case caused Kyon and Haruhi to gasp, as they were not mysterious devices, but guns. Two of them.

Both of them didn't look like the modern firearm pistols Kyon and Haruhi saw in several action movies, but these guns looked like futuristic versions of an unknown counterpart. One of them had a barrel that resembled a cannon at the end, and the other looked like an advanced prototype of a pistol that came from the video game _Halo_.

"Tell me those aren't real." Kyon asked in a hastily whisper with a shocked look on his face. Haruhi was just as shocked as Kyon was.

"They _are_ real." Makoto said with a straight face while placing the advanced prototype gun into his coat pocket.

He concealed both guns in the pockets inside and buttoned the coat. Makoto noticed a vent cover for an air-conditioning vent in the ceiling above the table, and it looked big enough for them to get in. At first, he thought about moving the case to the corner by the closet, but judged the height of the room to be about 15 feet and decided to set the case on the table. He picked up an office chair, and set it on the table, then got on the table to put the case in the seat. Checking the durability of the chair and case combined and assured the weight of the two would not cause him to fall off, he stood on top of the case and extended his hands to reach the ceiling. Sure enough, the ceiling height was about 15 feet high as he predicted.

"We don't have much time," Makoto said, "Kyon, climb up here. I need you to take off the vent cover and get into the shaft."

Kyon carefully got onto the case and Makoto helped him climb up to the vent cover. With enough strength, Kyon was able to rip off the vent cover. Handing the cover to Makoto, which he handed to Haruhi, Haruhi hid the cover inside the closet and stood by as she watched Kyon stand on Makoto's shoulders and climb into the vent. As Kyon got into the vent, he discovered the vent was wide enough for him to maneuver around and waited by the opening for Haruhi and Makoto to follow.

Makoto looked at Haruhi. "Come on Haruhi, you're next."

Haruhi cautiously got onto the case and climbed Makoto to reach the vent. Kyon extended his arms out so Haruhi could grab onto them and he helped her into the vent. "Keep moving. I'll meet you there." Makoto said.

As Kyon and Haruhi crawled forward, they approached an intersection. Not knowing where to go, they waited for Makoto to appear. Makoto managed to jump the three foot gap between the top of his head and the ceiling and managed to get inside the vent. He had the bag of tools around his shoulder and crawled the short distance to the intersection where the vent shaft hovered between the two conference rooms.

He saw Kyon and Haruhi standing there in a kneeled position, as they were waiting for him. A look of nervousness was on both of their faces. "Are we having fun yet?" Makoto whispered. Both of them shook their heads no. "Oh well." He proceeded forward.

"Is this necessary?" Haruhi asked in a light whisper.

"Is for me." Makoto responded.

"What about that room? Won't someone alert security about that?" Kyon whispered in a worried tone.

Makoto sighed. "That's why we are on a tight schedule Kyon. Now keep quiet. This is all about stealth now.

Obeying Makoto, they quietly proceed forward in the vent shaft towards the interrogation area.

After crawling through the ventilation shaft over the infantry, another corridor and back to the lobby—while climbing at certain points were the ceiling height became higher—they reached the area over the security check and the route into the interrogation area. With Makoto leading the way, he looked at the path that would lead them into the area, and on the way towards Yuki's room. However, an obstacle that no one had notified Makoto about blocked their way into the area: A laser net.

"Damn." Makoto said looking at the obstacle. Kyon and Haruhi moved forward past Makoto and saw the net blocking the path into the interrogation area.

The network of ventilation shafts over the area of the security offices and conferences rooms was rectangular, but when moving into the interrogation area, they became circular. Between the rectangular and circular shafts and over the security check was a red laser net. The net had several vertical lines with an X in the middle and made a light humming noise. The shaft over the lobby became taller as one would have to climb one more time about four feet to enter the circular shaft into the interrogation area, but the laser net blocked the entrance at the foot into the second half of the shaft. ΛETO did not warn Makoto about any laser traps when they gave him the information on the mission, and of course, Kevin probably would have not known about any laser traps in the ducts, and if he did, he failed to warn Makoto about it. Additionally, the disrupter Ethan created would only disrupt security devices, but it did not work on laser traps. Makoto now wished he had brought the laser beam blocker with him on this mission, but it didn't hit his mind at the time, especially when he was penetrating a "very extremely advanced facility." Hitting a dead end and with time running out, Makoto was beginning to run out of options.

Kyon was furious. "Now how are we going to get through that?" he whispered angrily.

Before Makoto could answer, Haruhi struck an idea. To her, there was something odd about the gun with the cannon barrel. "Makoto, what's that gun with the cannon at the end?"

"EMP. It's an electromagnetic pulse gun... very powerful." He said.

"Then, say that gun could shoot energy waves that are stronger than the net. That should be enough to disable it right? I thought that square cube Ethan gave you disrupted security systems. If you fire it and it disables the net, will the cube disable the alarm if it were to go off?"

Although Haruhi's idea of shooting the net with the EMP gun could work, Makoto had concerns about the gun itself. Despite its small size, the electromagnetic pulse gun that Makoto carried made a loud muffling sound upon firing, and shot energy waves in the form of invisible lasers towards its intended target to cause maximum damage. If fired at a robot, invisible lasers that struck its target immobilized integrated circuits within electrical conductor systems, and would immobilize humanoid interfaces that threatened Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi. He had used the gun before in past missions, but never thought to shoot the gun towards a laser trap. If he fired the gun, the possibility of the guards hearing that muffed sound at the security check down below was very likely. Another concern was the security alarm built in the laser net. If he was able to disable the net, it may not alarm the guards down below, but would alarm the security division on the tenth floor, which was outside the disrupter's 20 foot radius. Alternatively, there was one scenario where the gun would not fire at all.

Makoto didn't have enough time to think about the pros and cons in making decisions, along with attracting too much attention this far as they were very close to reaching Yuki. Looking at his watch, time was almost close to 1715 hours. They had about 45 minutes left.

Makoto sighed. "Fuck it." He mumbled. He pulled out the EMP gun and pointed it towards the path of the net. Before he fired the gun, he told Kyon and Haruhi to cover their ears. After they covered their ears, he looked at the gun, then the net, and fired.

Instead of making a muffled sound, the gun made no sound. In fact, after Makoto pulled the trigger, the gun vibrated and jerked back slightly, and a millisecond later, the laser net flickered on and off until it stopped flickering and remained off. Somehow, the gun did work and didn't have that muffled sound Makoto was used to when it fired. Although Ethan had modified the gun to have silent fire, Makoto knew someone at the security division would know about it before they alerted the entire building.

Makoto quickly assisted Kyon and Haruhi into the circular vent and guided them towards the room where Yuki was in holding: room 1211. As they continued to crawl in stealth and made a left from the entrance and another left at the end of the duct into a tightly squeezed rectangular vent, they were now over the room. Makoto remembered how to get inside the room through maps ΛETO provided him in the folder. The now tightly compacted vent made Makoto crawl in backwards as Kyon and Haruhi crawled in forward. A bright white light from the room below reflected over the duct. Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi got close to the opening in the vent. This time, they would have to remove the vent cover by unscrewing the bolts on the other side.

"How do we get down there?" Haruhi whispered softly

Going into the tool bag, Makoto dug around until he found the two fixed pulleys and rope at the bottom of the bag. The fixed pulleys were almost the size of a soccer ball, but were very heavy and had a 4-inch circular base with an on and off switch, where clear wrapping covered the base itself. An arm that was on the side of the pulleys stood out and was in an upward position. As Makoto grabbed one of the pulleys, he tore off the wrapping and put it to the side, then showed Kyon and Haruhi the base of the pulley.

"This is a magnetic fixed pulley," Makoto whispered, "can stick to other magnetic surfaces like this shaft we are in."

He asked Kyon to help him place the pulley on the ceiling of the duct over the opening. As they did that and the base was touching the ceiling, Makoto flipped the switch that turned the pulley on, which made the pulley stuck onto the ceiling with a light clicking sound. He told Kyon to let go, as the device stuck to the top of the ceiling. Makoto prepared the second pulley, placed it on the floor, and turned it on, where it stuck to the floor. He then fed the rope through the pulley on the ground, then through the pulley on the ceiling, then tied the rope at one end to make a water knot and left room to anchor the harness with a carabiner. Putting the harness on, he turned to Kyon and Haruhi and told them what was about to happen.

"This is what we'll do. You'll lower me into the room to reach Yuki. Both of you should be able to help me into the room with your combined strength so there shouldn't be any problems. If the rope slips from you, you feel it slipping, or you become tired, you put the arm of this pulley in the downward position to stop the rope." He said referring to the pulley on the ground. "These pulleys have very strong magnetic forces that can support my weight on the way down, so you can set your feet against the pulley on the ground and gradually lower me down. Just _don't_ turn it off! This rope should be enough for me to reach the floor."

Makoto went back into the bag to grab the tiny remote relating to the pulleys. "Once I've hit the floor below, I'll push this button to activate the arm in the upward position to let you know I've made it to the ground." He was referring to the pulley on the ceiling, which was upside-down. He pointed the remote at the pulley and pressed the button to show that the arm of the pulley would automatically go in the intended direction. "I'll take the harness off and signal you to bring the rope back up when the arm goes back in the downward position. Bring the rope back up.

Of course, this would not be easy on Kyon and Haruhi's point. "The real challenge will be between you two. One of you will have to stay here and help the other descend into the room and when that person reaches the floor, the one in the shaft will have to climb down the rope." Kyon and Haruhi did not like that part of the plan.

Makoto paused and then said, "I will get Yuki and when I do, I will yell for you guys to come down. Just stay put until I tell you to come down."

"So wait, one of us has to help the other down and then climb down? How high is this room?" Kyon asked.

Makoto looked down into the room. He couldn't see anything as everything was bright white. Judging by that 15 foot room they were in, followed by the series of climbing points in the vent, the room they would descend into was about 20 to 25 feet down. "At best guess, Kyon, I'd say about 20 to 25, but whoever climbs down, just look up while climbing down."

Kyon probably wouldn't have mind if the room was 10 feet, but 25 feet was pushing it. Before he could say anything, Makoto continued.

"When I get Yuki and you guys come down, we'll have to use hostile action to get out of the Entity. Just stay behind me and I'll take care of the rest."

Kyon thought Makoto's plan was flawed. If they got Yuki, they would have to get the time warp devices, which meant descending four floors through armed security to reach them—if an alarm did go off—set the bomb to countdown if security hadn't found it, then find a room capable of them to leave the Entity before the bomb detonated. Kyon was about to say something else about Makoto's exit strategy when Haruhi had a solution about getting into the room.

"Kyon, I'll help you descend down and I'll climb down the rope." She said.

Kyon and Makoto looked at Haruhi with a stark look. Makoto had told Kyon to keep Haruhi safe but that meant if he went down first, no one would be able to protect her if something bad happened. Kyon was about to refuse when Makoto interrupted. He could hear the sounds people down below. There was no time for disputing on who would go first and second.

"Okay, look. Haruhi, you help Kyon down below, but you'll have to climb down on your own. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I can do it," Haruhi said, "But you better protect us Makoto when we leave."

Makoto took a moment to read the concern in her face. The only concern he saw in her face was about leaving the Entity when they got Yuki. She didn't seem to have concern about descending into the room on her own. She was willing to let Kyon go first despite her safety. At least the rope was thick enough to climb down into the room. He sighed. "Okay, get ready."

Makoto got ready as he could hear movement in the room below. Through the vent cover, Makoto saw two people in the room. The one with black hair was Hatoyama and the other with blond hair next to him was one of his associates. With his keen hearing, he could hear Hatoyama giving instructions to someone out of view. He took a moment to check his watch one more time before he would descend into the room. 1720 hours. He hoped that with 30 minutes left, they were not quick to terminate Yuki at that moment. If ΛETO was correct about the Entity terminating Yuki at 1800 hours, they would probably leave and then come back to start the process. In that gap, that would be the time for Makoto to get in there and get Yuki. However, knowing that Hatoyama was that kind of person who did what he saw best, he could terminate Yuki earlier if he wanted to.

As Makoto waited impatiently for the man to leave, he heard a familiar voice coming from what appeared to be a speaker system. As he was listening midway into the speech, and Kyon and Haruhi could hear, he remembered why they were in that vent shaft in the process of getting Yuki. It was what Kyon had told Yuki that night in December that got him involved in saving their friend.


	24. Book 4:Chapter 23

**Book Four: Entity Penetration**

**Chapter 23: Invasion of Order**

After listening to Kyon's voice on the speaker system and as Hatoyama and company left the room, Makoto reached into the bag to get the fancy looking gadget, which was a magnetic screwdriver. The device reached under the vent cover to unscrew the bolts and Makoto lifted the cover and set it next to the pulley on the ground. He looked at Kyon and Haruhi to tell them he was ready to descend into the room and to hold on to the rope. He got into the hole and they gradually lowered him down into the room.

Makoto had the tool bag around his shoulder with the disrupter in the bag to prevent the security systems from detecting him, including the one that indicated temperature change by a tenth degree, color and infrared visibility, and sound and movement. There was the possibility that the floor was pressure sensitive, and if that were the case, the device would disrupt any systems in the floor so it wouldn't go off.

Back in the vent, Kyon and Haruhi were straining to lower Makoto into the room. Haruhi had her feet against the pulley on the ground and Kyon was behind her using his feet as an anchor to the floor. They were waiting for at least the arm on the pulley that stuck to the ceiling to go up to indicate that he made it to the floor safely. Until then, all they could do was lower him down and wait for the arm to move by itself. Both of them were almost exhausted.

"God, he is so heavy." Haruhi said tirelessly.

"Then how were you able to knock him over back at that house?" Kyon asked.

Haruhi scoffed. "He was on the ground Kyon. It's easy to knock someone over when they are on the ground. In the air, they are heavier."

_ That didn't make any sense_, Kyon thought. "Never mind... And lower your voice."

The straining was too much for Haruhi and she had to take a break. With one hand, she reached for the arm of the pulley in front of her and pulled it in the downward position. She was breathing hard.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Kyon asked quietly. He was getting tired from straining the rope too but not as much as Haruhi. He had calculated a minute since Makoto went into the room. For all he knew, Makoto was probably 20 feet from the ground.

"Just give me a minute." Haruhi said. After she took a moment to compose herself, she grabbed the rope and raised the arm in the upward position and again, they continued to lower Makoto into the room.

Makoto continued descending into the room. He could see his reflection on the large screen that hovered above the chair containing the alien, humanoid interface down below. He saw the top of Yuki's head, as she was sitting there with her arms and legs strapped to the chair, as her palms were sitting on two blue glowing pads. Based on her posture, she looked as if she would fall out of the chair. Makoto thought the glowing pad was draining all of Yuki's energy out of her and he wanted to get down there quickly. He looked at his watch: 1733 hours. He looked back at the shaft then around the room to see if he was close to the ground. He could not tell how high he was because there were no shadows in the room.

_Come on Kyon and Haruhi!_ They were taking too long to lower him into the room and time was of the essence.

As he looked back at Yuki, he could see her face as she was staring at him. About another minute later, he noticed he was close to the floor. He touched the ground—the alarm that was in the floor if one existed didn't go off—and pressed the button on the tiny remote back towards the vent. At the vent, the arm went in the upward position, telling Kyon and Haruhi that he had reached the room. They finally let go of the rope to compose themselves and would begin to bring the rope and harness back up once the pulley went back in the down position. After Makoto took off the harness, he used the remote towards the vent and a moment later, the rope and harness ascended back to the vent as Makoto approached Yuki. She continued to stare at him, and if she had an emotion to fit her expression, Makoto didn't see it as she was leaning forward in the chair and had her neck tilted back.

"Yuki Nagato?" Makoto whispered.

While she had stared at him since he entered the room from the vent, she straightened her neck and faced the floor. "Yes." Yuki responded in a strained voice. The machine was doing something to Yuki and he needed to shut off the machine now. For all he knew, Hatoyama was already in the process of terminating Yuki, or this was a series of stages in preparation for her immediate termination.

Makoto quickly went into the bag to get the device ΛETO had provided him in order to kill the machine. It resembled a pen-sized motorized screwdriver designed to breach through any material. After breaching the material, Makoto would push a button that would inject a virus—in the form of a power surge—into the machine to corrupt critical systems within, causing the machine to power down. He had to hurry because that man could come back at any second and he expected the device that was in his hand to do the job. With no hesitation, he began the process of trying to get Yuki off that chair.

* * *

><p>Hatoyama and Masako were walking back towards the conference room to talk to Kamiko after leaving room 1211. Hatoyama would begin the process of terminating Yuki after talking to Kamiko, as he would provide the new humanoid interface more information on her mission. As they rounded the corner after leaving the security check, Hatoyama heard the elevator open as they were walking by. As the doors opened, a man ran out with a computer tablet the size of a notebook in his hand. He was dressed in the typical military getup guards wore throughout the Entity, but this man was a human. He looked confused and ran to check both corridors, but when he saw Hatoyama and Masako walking towards the conference rooms, he ran towards them.<p>

"Sir!" yelled the guard.

Hatoyama stopped when he heard the guard and turned around. The guard, who looked to be in his late 20s, had a concerned look on his face. He handed the tablet to Hatoyama. "I think you need to see this sir."

Typically, if there was ever a security issue at the Entity, it was usually minor and did not require quick action, but he assumed the guard was new and overhyped about a minor incident. Plus, if there ever were a minor incident, it would go to someone on the tenth floor, not to him. Hatoyama sighed as he took the tablet from the guard's hands. "What is it, kid?" Hatoyama said as he looked at the tablet.

The guard was straightforward. "About an hour ago, our security systems picked up a threat. During a database check, three people came up on our system as trespassers. One of them poses as a severe danger to the Entity. Security wants to know what to do with your permission. We also detected a breach in one of our security systems in the ventilation shaft on this floor."

Hatoyama looked at the man with astonishment, then looked at the tablet and began dragging documents on the screen to the side to see what the serious issue was. If there were trespassers in the Entity, the security division intensely questioned them or penalized them heavily. Alternatively, the security division was conducting an emergency test that Hatoyama was unaware of and he would make any recommendation on how to take care of the situation. But when Hatoyama saw the pictures from the hidden surveillance cameras of the three people, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His face showed a state of shock as he clutched the tablet with both hands. "_You gotta to be fucking kidding me_."

Masako approached Hatoyama to see what was on the tablet. Based on his expression, she could tell something was wrong. On the slow motion cam, which was at the lobby on the tenth floor, three people were walking towards the security division before ducking into a stairway. Several still shot photos were included with the video clip and showed the three individuals as a young man and woman, along with another man who was taller than the two with long hair and carrying a large rolling suitcase. Hatoyama could not believe what he was seeing in the photo. There was no way in hell they were able to get into the Entity or this city, but for some reason, they were _in_ the Entity right now. That girl who he saw with or without her ribbon was Haruhi Suzumiya, and the boy whose life became a living hell because of that girl was Kyon. He even knew the man that was walking with them in the photo. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?" he mumbled to himself.

The guard, who was standing there with the same concerned look, finally spoke. "Sir, I need to know your plan of action. What do you want us to do?"

He looked at the tablet once more and handed the device back to the guard. The guard should have known what to do when there was a situation like this. Hatoyama's face became serious. "Put the building on silent high alert and prepare tactical forces. This is beyond a severe danger for the entire compound. Find them, and bring them to my office."

Hatoyama walked hastily back towards the interrogation area. Masako stood there as if she was confused but didn't have the emotion to show it and started following Hatoyama. He knew why they were here and it was because of what that boy said to Yuki that month in December. That boy was really serious about getting Yuki, but his main concern was how Kyon could get that guy to help him, or did that guy come here on another mission and brought them with him. There was no way he would allow Kyon, Haruhi and that other guy to come into the Entity and get her. He had to terminate Yuki now.

As he was close to rounding the corner, the guard ran up behind him again. "Sir! What do you want us to do if they do not comply?"

Hatoyama stopped and turned around to face the guard. The look on his face indicated that he had murderous intentions as he grabbed the collar of the guard's outfit and brought him close to his face. "If they don't comply, _kill them_, but not the girl. Bring her to me."

He ran back towards the security check when the door to the stairway opened and ten more guards came through the door with guns resembling advanced prototypes of bullpup shotguns and assault rifles. With another guard as their leader, all of them were humanoids. As the human guard ran back downstairs, the leader of the group had news on the developing situation, and it wasn't any better than what the earlier guard said. "Hatoyama-san. We have activity coming from room 1211 in the interrogation area. The intruder is using a device to get past security, but we were able to detect him. We are also showing activity in the ventilation shaft above that room."

_This can't be happening,_ Hatoyama thought. With the situation becoming dire, Hatoyama had to act now. He ordered the man in charge that brought up the armed guards to storm the room, but not open fire until he gave them the command to do so. He also told the guard to alert the security division to release "spyderflies"—an insect-like robot that resembled a firefly and was the size of a small bird—into the ventilation shafts. They were capable of disabling a threat with electrical currents released from their fiber-optic legs and release tear gas. The guard attempted to warn Hatoyama for his safety but Hatoyama refused and said he needed to be in that room to confront that man. He ordered the men at the security check to let them through and they proceeded back to Yuki's interrogation room to confront the intruder. The guard that was by the door to Yuki's room noticed the heavy presence approaching and pressed the button to open the door. The guard stood there as Hatoyama and Masako walked in first and the ten armed men along with their leader walked in behind them. The flooring in the room made it easy for them to walk into the room without making a lot of noise in alerting the intruder.

The man on the other side on the room had just said something to the girl in the chair when he went to turn around and stopped at the sight of Hatoyama and his security. It was then Hatoyama saw the man up close. Just like in the photo, it was the same man with that long hair. _It is him, _Hatoyama thought. He made a snide smirk towards the man. "You didn't think you'd get off that easy. This is an advanced facility. Your devices would never outsmart our equipment."

The man who was standing there slightly backed up towards the girl in the chair. His hands were near his waist but he stood still in an attempt to protect the girl behind him. As the armed guards who blocked the door stood by, their guns pointed towards the ground and their finger near the trigger, Hatoyama walked closer until there was a five foot gap between him and the man. Hatoyama knew who this man was because he had recognized his face before. It belonged to a face of a man who breached the Entity when they were under a different name in a different part of the city years ago.

"Higashiyama... We meet again," Hatoyama said.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Dark Secrets**

Makoto looked at the man's face before him along with the woman standing next to him and the guards behind them armed and ready. Hatoyama spoke again. "Well, well... I didn't expect to see _you_ here, Makoto."

"I wasn't expecting to see you either Tamotsu. But here you are." Makoto responded in a bored stare. He could feel tightness in his chest at the sight of the man before him. He continued to stare at the man coldly. Just as Hatoyama knew who Makoto was, Makoto also knew who this man was before him. For this mission in saving Yuki, Hatoyama was the president of the Entity and Yuki's boss. For that one mission where Makoto had to collect and destroy information, Hatoyama wasn't the president of the organization that would later claim themselves as the Data Overmind. How did Tamotsu and Makoto know each other? It was something Hatoyama did to Makoto that one time that changed his life when he was younger, and it all started with that same mission where Hatoyama took something away from Makoto.

Before the time Makoto had to penetrate the organization that would later become the Entity, and after he had ditched Asahina's organization to seek out his own opportunities, he became a young mercenary who worked with several associations that made him enter different time periods over time on different missions. During the course of one mission, he ran into a woman who worked for a separate association who shared a compassion for danger and taking big risks. After working together on that one mission, where it was a success, they began to work together on future missions that organizations gave Makoto to do. Because her organization did not want her to work with Makoto—and it wasn't the excuse Asahina's organization gave Asahina for why he was a threat to any association—she eventually left her organization to work with Makoto. It was then that Makoto found a companion, and their working relationship became serious as they fell in love.

However, there was that time when Makoto and his companion had to engage in the mission where they had to penetrate the organization Hatoyama worked for to collect and destroy information regarding the leaders of the planet to make a dominate machine race. What should have been a successful mission at the time was not, as they were unable to collect certain pieces of data necessary to take back to the organization Makoto and his companion worked for, and they were not successful in executing the boss of that association then. As they were fighting their way through security forces in an attempt to kill the boss before they left that dimension, they got separated and Hatoyama—an assistant to the organization's boss—confronted his girlfriend and used her as a shield with a knife against her throat to protect their boss. The boss managed to get away, and as Makoto found her and pleaded with Hatoyama to let her go, he stabbed her in the back through the heart in front of him before escaping. Before she died in Makoto's arms, she told him that if he ever encountered Hatoyama again, he should get his revenge and kill him for what he did to her.

She gave him something more special than love or trust. She gave him the ability to move forward and to honor life. Makoto would never think until this current mission that he would have to confront Hatoyama again, and had thoughts about what would happen if he encountered him again, but now that he was before him, it was time to return the favor for what he did. But with Hatoyama's armed protection and his, Kyon, Haruhi, and Yuki's life on the line, he had to have patience to get revenge on him and make sure that Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki made it safely to their time period.

"What are you doing here Higashiyama?" Hatoyama asked. He waited for Makoto to answer that question but he didn't, as Makoto stared at him hard. "Where are your friends Makoto? We know you're not the only one here." He asked.

Makoto didn't respond to that question either but went straight to the point. "Cut the shit Tamotsu. I came here for Yuki, and I'm not leaving until I have her."

Hatoyama chuckled as Masako stared at Makoto and the guards behind them were standing vertically still with their guns in the same downward position. "You know you and her won't get out of here alive. Neither will your friends, wherever they may be. You should have learned that the first time when you invaded our last organization... Or do you remember?"

Makoto became angry after he said that. He approached Hatoyama close to his face and was a foot away when the guards raised their guns and pointed them towards him. Makoto stopped, only leaving a foot between them. "Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did," he responded in a furious tone, "I will still have my revenge against you for what you did to her. You won't live to see another day Tamotsu."

Hatoyama tilted his head as he backed up to maintain the five foot gap between himself and Makoto while retaining the same snide smirk. "You got lucky the last time. You won't have any luck once I've left this room. Once I leave this room, you and Yuki will be dead. And I will have my revenge shortly once I've found your friends." Hatoyama continued walking backwards until he was next to the leader of the group. "Your friends will suffer the same fate you and Yuki will face, and there is nothing you can do to prevent it."

Hatoyama gave the command to execute Makoto and Yuki once he and Masako left the room. As Hatoyama and Masako left the room and the guard from the outside locked the door, the ten armed men stood there with their guns pointed towards Makoto and Yuki. Makoto didn't know if the EMP gun could take out many of them at a time, and his other gun, which was the laser gun, could take all of them out before he had to reload. Either way, before he could get a shot, they were going to kill him before he drew either weapon. They would kill Yuki, and if they found Kyon and Haruhi, they would be killed too unless Hatoyama had something in mind for them.

As the men took one step forward in an attempt to execute Makoto and Yuki, they stood still for a moment, and began twitching as they were standing still. As Makoto witnessed, they were facing him but their eyes started to look up as they were holding their weapons, which soon began to shake in their hands. For a moment, Makoto thought they were going to fire them when suddenly, the ten men along with their leader all collapsed onto the floor as the guns clanged on the floor. Once they had hit the ground, their eyes slowly closed and their bodies did not move.

For a second, Makoto couldn't understand what caused them to mysteriously collapse, but when he turned to face Yuki, he noticed something strange. Yuki was still in the chair in the same bent forward position, as she extended her right arm forward, and the palm of her hand was facing towards the door. She was looking straight ahead and Makoto got a glimpse of her mouth moving rapidly before it stopped. After looking back at the downed guards at the front then back at Yuki, she lowered her right arm, but because she was not strapped to the chair, she fell out forward, hitting the ground face first. She wasn't moving after she hit the ground.

"Yuki!" Makoto said in shock, running over to her aid. He picked her up and sat her against the chair. He looked at her face and noticed her eyes were fairly open. He ran back to the bag to get the syringe to inject her with what would have reduced her weight if she was too heavy to get out of the chair, but was also a method of restoring her body to function, but took time to work. He didn't know what Hatoyama had at stake for Kyon and Haruhi, and he wanted them out of that shaft right now.

"Kyon! Haruhi! You need to get down here right now! Hurry up!" Makoto yelled as he injected Yuki with the serum. If he had to use the syringe ΛETO supplied him with, they told him to apply the syringe somewhere on her left shoulder. After injecting her with the serum, he threw the syringe to the side and put his hands on her arms to see if she would wake up.

Back at the vent, Kyon and Haruhi had heard Makoto yelling for them to come down. Haruhi told Kyon to go and he got into the open shaft and with the help of Haruhi, he descended into the room. Kyon saw firsthand the interior of the interrogation room, and noticed several men and guns lying on the floor by what appeared to be the exit. Kyon had heard commotion earlier in the room from the vent, but couldn't tell what was going on until he saw Makoto and Nagato on the opposite side of the room. Makoto was on the floor next to Nagato as he was saying something to her, and Nagato was sitting there looking limp. Based on her posture, something was wrong.

"Makoto, what happened?" Kyon yelled, as he was about 12 feet from the ground.

"Hatoyama's guards tried to kill us, but Yuki did something to stop them," Makoto responded, "This machine they had her on took away her strength. I injected her with a serum to restore her energy but it'll take awhile."

Kyon touched the floor seconds later and was scrambling to get out of the harness to see Nagato. He yelled for Haruhi to set the pulleys so she could come down. Hearing Kyon yelling from down below, Haruhi was about to lower the arm on the pulley that was attached to the floor when she thought she heard a clang coming from around the corner behind her along with a light humming noise. She quickly positioned the pulleys in their correct direction to keep the rope taut and grabbed the rope to begin descending when she saw what appeared to be several tiny green beaded lights approaching from the corner. She could tell how each thing had four beaded lights, and there were five sets of these beaded lights coming towards her.

Haruhi quickly descended into the room. Her arms were still hurting from straining the rope but she was able to climb down the rope in an expedient manner. Whatever those things were, she didn't want to wait to see what they looked like. She had to alert Makoto. "Makoto! Kyon! Help me! Something is coming out of the vent!" Haruhi yelled.

Kyon was on the floor next to Nagato and Makoto when they heard Haruhi yelling as she was coming down. Makoto and Kyon quickly jumped up and saw Haruhi descend the rope. Makoto could pick up a humming noise that was coming from the vent, and noticed a large insect-like robot leave the vent. Another one followed it and another, until a total of five—no, _seven_ gadgets flew out of the vent. They had wings, green beaded eyes, and looked like a firefly that was the size of a bird. The humming noise was very loud and resembled a massive swarm of bees. They were beginning to swarm around Haruhi in a counter clockwise rotation as she was on the rope.

"Oh, my god!" Kyon said. He was horrified at what he was witnessing.

"Haruhi! Don't stop, just keep going!" Makoto yelled as he went into his coat and grabbed the laser gun. He didn't know what those things were, but he didn't want them around Haruhi. He aimed the gun carefully and fired one shot towards the insect-like robots. A white laser shot out the gun and made contact with the gadget near Haruhi's foot, decimating the gadget into several pieces.

Haruhi yelped after hearing the gadget explode and continued to go down the rope. One of the gadgets was beginning to cling on her right shoulder and she resorted to swinging in an attempt to keep the gadget away from her. Two more gadgets near Haruhi exploded as Makoto took careful aim, and another gadget near her head exploded, causing her to yelp again as pieces of the gadget rained against her back. Haruhi looked down and noticed she was midway in the room judging by where Makoto and Kyon were standing on the ground. The one insect-like robot that was attempting to cling onto her shoulder finally clung on, as the remaining two clung onto her legs. Through the loud humming noise of the remaining three robots, Haruhi could hear whining from within them and it was starting to grow louder.

"Get off me!" Haruhi screamed, as she swung harder in an attempt to shake off the robots.

Makoto knew Haruhi was in trouble. He could not shoot with the laser gun since they were on her body and immediately switched to his EMP gun. He aimed the gun towards Haruhi, but with Haruhi swinging wildly, it was difficult for Makoto to determine when to shoot so he wouldn't hit her.

Kyon was concerned that the EMP gun would hurt Haruhi if he fired it towards her in an attempt to terminate the remaining insect-like robots. "No! You'll hurt her!" Kyon said as he tried to stop Makoto.

Makoto moved forward when he found a pattern in Haruhi's swinging, and fired the gun. The invisible lasers missed Haruhi, as the energy waves hit the robots, causing them to malfunction and fall to the ground, shattering into big chunks once they struck the floor. The one that malfunctioned on Haruhi's shoulder had managed to prepare a charge in order to taze Haruhi, but when it malfunctioned, it made a loud noise resembling static that scared Haruhi and she almost fell off the rope.

Haruhi continued down until her feet touched the ground. She got off the rope but because she was shaking and panting hard after that ordeal, she sat down and tried to calm herself down. Makoto and Kyon approached her to see if she was all right and she responded by nodding her head frantically.

Allowing her to calm down, Makoto ran over to one of the downed guards and grabbed what looked like a bullpup shotgun and one of the advanced assault rifles. He saw how the weapons used special magazines than modern version guns, and did not hesitate to take all of them from the other guns before running back towards Kyon to take him aside. Before Haruhi's ordeal on the rope, Yuki became aware of her surroundings. She wasn't talking as much but understanding commands, and she even knew the situation of her termination. He wanted to know if she could move about or needed help and she responded with "I'm fine" in her monotone voice. Makoto went straight to the point when talking to Kyon while gathering his laser gun off the floor. "We don't have time to hang around. We gotta go. It looks like Yuki's strength is restored... sort of, but it won't be easy in getting those time warp devices now, and Hatoyama is determined to get his revenge on all of us."

Haruhi had quickly recovered from her ordeal and noticed Yuki sitting against the chair looking the same way she always did. She approached her and checked to see if she was okay, to which Yuki again replied she was fine. Haruhi didn't believe her. She remembered how stubborn Yuki was, especially when she passed out at that mansion and how she said she was fine then when she recovered from that sudden illness.

Haruhi looked at Makoto "How are we going to get out of here?"

Makoto showed her the bullpup shotgun in his hands. "This way," he responded, indicating they would resort to violence, "I told you we would encounter this when getting Yuki. Now it's time to use hostile action." He handed the bullpup shotgun to Kyon and asked him if he could handle using it. Kyon never thought he would have to use a gun. Matter of fact, he didn't even want to touch the gun, rather shoot it for fear of future conflicts in life from shooting the gun at people.

As Kyon refused the weapon, Makoto thought he heard a heavy presence of footsteps coming from the door. At the same time, Yuki's head rose a few centimeters as if she could also tell a presence beyond that door. Kyon and Haruhi noticed something was wrong.

"Makoto?" Kyon asked

"Makoto? What is it?" Haruhi said nervously as she helped Yuki stand up.

On the other side, another set of armed infantry stood by with more guns. Because the guards that collapsed at the door did not leave the room after they were supposed to eliminate Makoto and Yuki, another set was dispatch to handle the situation inside the room. Makoto was going into the bag to collect a flashbomb when Yuki started to speak.

"I detect a heavy presence of infantry attempting to gain access into this room," she said, "I have deactivated the door to prevent them from gaining access inside but they are using methods in an attempt to get inside. They are following the orders given by Tamotsu Hatoyama to eliminate our existence."

_Orders by Hatoyama to eliminate our existence,_ Kyon thought. In other words, that meant Hatoyama's guards were forcing their way in to _kill_ them.

Makoto grabbed the flashbomb and walked over to Yuki. She verified his assumption that something was beyond that door. Shooting their way out was not enough, especially if he was doing the shooting, and their only method of getting out that room and that floor was using the flashbombs, the ones with the blinding light that would incapacitate the enemy as Ethan put it.

"That door is reinforced, yes?" he asked Yuki while pointing at the door.

"It is, but they are working to corrupt the technology of the door in order to gain access."

"Will this help us?" He asked as he showed her the flashbomb, "Will this blow out the door and disable the threat on the other side of that wall?"

Kyon and Haruhi looked at Yuki in astonishment. Kyon knew Yuki was smart in analyzing and modifying data, but Haruhi did not know Yuki's capabilities... yet. Yuki looked at the black soda-can device in Makoto's hands, then picked it up and analyzed it. Ethan assured Makoto the flashbomb would work, and they saw how it performed back at the mansion. Because Yuki was the intelligent one present, he needed an immediate second opinion to ensure it _would_ work.

After looking at the device for five seconds, she put the device back in his hand and gave a response... a shockingly _positive_ response. "Yes." She said.

Makoto looked at the structure that made the large chair. It was eight feet in width and there was a small opening against the back of the chair and the wall, enough for them to fit and shield Yuki in case the light from the flashbomb affected her. Makoto told Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki to sit there and be ready to cover Yuki after he threw the device at the door. They sat with their backs against the rear of the chair as Makoto walked towards the door until there was a gap of 30 feet. He could still hear faint noises coming from behind the door. Not wasting time, he unlatched the flashbomb and threw it towards the door. The bomb landed at the base of the door as Makoto made it back behind the chair where Kyon and Haruhi were waiting to shield Yuki.

"Close your eyes and cover her!" Makoto said as covered Yuki from the front while Kyon and Haruhi covered her from the side.

For a second, they could see black with their eyes closed as they waited for the flashbomb to detonate, and when it did with that horrible loud sound, everything went bright white.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Not As Planned**

The bright light faded moments later and all was silent. Makoto, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki stood up to look at the exit into the corridor. Despite the room's color of bright white, they could see rippling in the wall in the area of the door where the flashbomb exploded, damaging the wall in a circular shape. The door built into the wall was blown out into the corridor, as the threshold into the room itself suffered extensive damage. Makoto walked slowly towards the corridor with the assault rifle and bullpup shotgun around his shoulder, and the EMP and laser gun in his hands, ready to fire upon anyone who threatened them. He got near the corridor and saw that the flashbomb also destroyed the wall and door opposite of the room, and disabled eight humanoid guards who were attempting to get into the room earlier. The lighting in the corridor was partly dim, possibly due to the explosion damaging electrical cables in the ceiling.

Makoto was about to walk towards the intersection back to the security check when he noticed four guards coming towards him with another version of an assault rifle. One of them saw Makoto and began firing. He ducked back into the room as blue laser rays shot by, striking the wall and the doorframe.

Haruhi almost flipped out. "Makoto, why are they shooting at us?" she yelled.

He looked at Haruhi with a blank stare. "Isn't it obvious Haruhi?" he said before jumping out in the hallway with his EMP gun and fired once at the guards, disabling all four of them as they fell down in rapid succession. "Come on!" he yelled. He ran down the corridor as Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki followed behind him. Makoto quickly stopped by one of the downed guards to grab the other assault rifle and told Kyon to put it over his shoulder. He may have not wanted to shoot any weapons, but with the power of that assault rifle, they needed that gun.

Approaching the intersection, Makoto stuck to the wall and carefully glanced around the corner at the security check. There were no other guards in the interrogation area, but a mass group of humanoids was at the security check while the door to the other end was open.

Makoto turned to face the others. "Kyon, hold this bag for me." He said as he gave the bag to Kyon. Kyon took the bag and wrapped it around his shoulder after Makoto took out the red soda-can device of the CR gas canister.

He then addressed Yuki. "Yuki, you need to explain to me what you did to those guards in that room. How were you able to do that?"

"I corrupted the data within their systems to malfunction, which caused them to collapse," she responded, "I am able to manipulate data within the environment. A term for this action is 'incantation.' However, by using independent action, I am ignoring orders from the Data Integration Thought Entity, and they are attempting other means to terminate my existence, but systems within me are preventing that action."

Kyon and Haruhi gasped. _Attempting other means to terminate her,_ Makoto thought. He checked his watch and noticed time was a little after 1800 hours. He didn't know why the Entity was still attempting to terminate her, but thought another power other than Hatoyama was in charge of doing that action and they had to stop them. Furthermore, it would add delays in getting those time warp devices and getting out of there while detonating the bomb. He walked over to Yuki. "Is Hatoyama continuing the order of your termination, or another higher power?"

A second went by until Yuki said, "It is not Hatoyama who is continuing the termination, but someone in the observation center. That person—.

Makoto cut her off. "Don't need to know, I'll take care of it. You guys wait here."

Makoto walked quietly down the corridor towards the security check to avoid detection. The mass group was talking among themselves on how to enter into the interrogation area. Makoto got almost close enough when a humanoid noticed him and alerted the others. Reacting, Makoto unlatched the CR canister, threw it before resorting to the assault rifle, and fired rapidly towards the guards. The guards didn't notice the canister until the last second before it detonated. Makoto retreated to the intersection when the canister exploded, releasing the yellowish lethal cloud at the security check. Four humanoids that were near the canister were thrown against a wall from the blast that disabled them, and nine of them began choking and clutching their throats and covering their eyes before passing out after walking blindly through the thick cloud in chasing Makoto, proving that the CR gas was able to incapacitate humanoid interfaces. He made it back to the intersection to meet with Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki.

"I think I got most of them." He told the others.

Confused by what Yuki had said about her termination, but aware of what she said about Hatoyama terminating their existence, Haruhi was more concerned about their safety and whether they would make it out of there. "Isn't there any way to protect ourselves?" Haruhi asked.

Before Makoto had to remind her how they were getting out of there, Kyon had a thought. He remembered how Nagato was capable of creating repulsion fields, especially during that time she protected him, Asahina and Koizumi in that strange dimension involving the cave cricket. If she was able to take down those guards in that room, she was capable of creating a repulsion field to protect them.

"Nagato... That time you used a repulsion field, can you use that against these guards?" he asked.

"I cannot," she responded, "A data jurisdiction does not exist within this environment to generate a repulsion field."

Kyon sighed. _Dammit._

The cloud of CR gas had dissipated at the security check. Makoto turned to tell Kyon and Haruhi to walk behind them and for Yuki to be near him. Even if she wasn't able to produce a force field like Kyon suggested, there was a possibility Yuki would come up with something.

Approaching the security check, he told the others to stay behind the door while he checked the lobby. Makoto slowly walked into the lobby with his laser gun, glancing down both corridors for any other threats. For a moment, Makoto was trying to decide what stairway to go down since he assumed the elevators were out of order due to the breach. As he was about to tell them the lobby was clear, a guard came from around the corner. He had the same assault rifle on Makoto's back and fired rapidly at Makoto. With quick reaction, Makoto ducked and fired his laser gun at the guard, taking him down instantly. The noise alerted another guard at the opposite end, and Makoto disabled that guard. With no other threats near the lobby, he told Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki the coast was clear and they descended the other stairway down.

They took care to descend the stairway in stealth. Passing the eleventh floor and approaching the tenth floor, Yuki stopped, halting Kyon and Haruhi behind her. Makoto noticed her abrupt stop and thought something was up. "What is it Yuki?" Makoto whispered.

Yuki glanced towards the door for a few seconds. She then looked at Makoto. "There is a heavy presence of infantry in the lobby beyond that door. There is also a presence of infantry ascending this stairway. I count a presence of 30 ascending the stairs and 40 in the lobby."

Makoto saw the horror on Kyon and Haruhi's face. He approached the windowed door and carefully looked towards the lobby. He could not see the entire lobby, but could tell there was a large crowd of humanoids. He then saw a sign for the observation center, which directed people down the corridor right from the stairway. He remembered that the observation center covered this floor and the floor below, and he still wanted to know who was in charge of continuing Yuki's termination.

Makoto quietly walked over to Kyon to collect another CR canister and flashbomb. "The observation center is on this floor. We need to be quick. You open that door, go right, and there should be a door to the center." He took the bullpup shotgun off his shoulder and forced it to Kyon's chest. "No arguments Kyon. I need you to protect Haruhi and Yuki. I'll be right behind you." He then addressed Yuki. "Yuki, do whatever you can to protect Kyon and Haruhi. Kyon cannot do this by himself. Okay?"

Yuki nodded her head slowly. "I will."

Makoto could hear footsteps three floors down as the presence of infantry was approaching their floor. Holding the flashbomb in his hands, he waited until they were one more floor up. When they were, he motioned for Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki to go through the door. They ran out the door into the corridor—Yuki in front and Haruhi and Kyon behind her—and ran towards the observation center as Makoto unlatched the flashbomb and threw it down to the next set of stairs before running out behind them. There were no guards in their path towards the observation center, but those who heard the door open and saw them run out gave chase.

"Keep running!" Makoto yelled to Yuki, Haruhi and Kyon.

They were midway between the stairway and the doors to the observation center when the ground shook, almost causing them to trip. Back inside the stairway, the flashbomb exploded, destroying the stairway and adjacent elevator, and blowing out the doors on the ninth and tenth floors, knocking out two guards in the process. The blinding light was mostly contained in the stairwell as it disabled half of the guards and sent some falling back down to the lower floors. When the door blew out, some blinding light seeped out, but it wasn't enough to incapacitate any guards that were chasing Makoto and company.

Makoto unlatched the CR canister the moment after the flashbomb detonated and threw it on the ground to stop the guards from chasing them. It seemed that these guards were more interested in capturing Makoto and company than firing at them. However, as five guards that got through before the canister exploded and seven of their colleagues passed out from the gas, they drew their guns and began firing towards Makoto. Makoto dodged lasers and turned around in a crouched position while firing the rifle at them, taking down all five of them before continuing to catch up to Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki.

Yuki, Haruhi and Kyon had reached the doors to the observation center. With Yuki in front, she placed her hand on the swipe reader next to the door. Haruhi thought she saw Yuki's mouth move rapidly before the doors opened on their own. They ran into a vestibule and two sets of doors to gain access inside. Going right from the entrance, Yuki again did the same action and opened the other set of doors. As she was about to move forward, a guard appeared and attempted to put his hand on her shoulder. Yuki tried to stop him by grabbing his wrist and bent it downward but the guard was able to move his other free hand and touch her shoulder. Whatever power was in his hand when he touched her shoulder transferred to her, causing her to fall on her knees before collapsing completely on the floor.

The sight of Yuki falling to the floor frightened Haruhi. "Yuki!" Haruhi screamed.

Enraged by the guard's actions on Nagato, Kyon lurched forward and slammed the butt of the gun in the guard's face. The guard appeared resistant to the attack as he snatched the shotgun out of Kyon's hands and tried to lure towards him. Makoto was up behind Kyon with the EMP gun and pushed Kyon to the side before firing once at the humanoid, hitting him in the chest. The force was strong enough to send the guard flying backwards through the opening until he ricocheted off the wall onto the floor.

Haruhi checked on Yuki, as tears almost filled her eyes. She thought the guard had killed her until she saw her eyes open before she gradually sat up. "Yuki, say something... Yuki?" Haruhi said with a concerned look on her face.

Makoto collected the bullpup shotgun the guard snatched from Kyon and noticed Yuki on the floor as she looked at her surroundings after waking up. Kevin was right about the humanoid guards having powers within them to disable a threat. However, if they were using stronger powers against Yuki, she appeared resistant to them. Both he and Kyon kneeled down next to Haruhi to check on Yuki.

Despite the guard's attempt to disable her, Yuki stated she did not sustain damage from his attack and was able to restore her health. Makoto asked her if she could lock the main entrance into the observation center so no one else could get in. She responded by getting up and walking to the door, and again with same earlier motion and movement of her mouth, the doors closed and a clicking sound followed.

The commotion attracted those working within that section of the observation center, which turned out to be one of many command centers. Because the Entity was on lockdown, employees were aware of the alert and ordered to maintain at their stations and offices for their safety. Makoto, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki walked through that command center, as employees stood up from their seats in shock and talked amongst one another of the intruders walking through. As they walked through another command center, Makoto asked Yuki where the Entity would undergo terminations for humanoid interfaces and she responded that an assessment center on the next floor down was in control of terminations.

Using a stairway near the command centers to reach the lower level, they reached the assessment center and walked in. Somehow, despite the breach, the doors to offices within the observation center remained open, as Makoto assumed the Entity didn't think an intruder could gain access inside that part of the compound. Their presence in the office shocked the secretary, as she stuttered her words in what to say or do.

"Who's in charge of terminating this humanoid interface?" He yelled to the woman while pointing at Yuki.

The secretary who looked young nervously pointed in the direction of a door to another room when someone on the other side of the wall must have heard Makoto and yelled, "What the hell is going on out there?" It was a male's voice, and with emotion in that statement, Makoto assumed the Entity allowed humans to handle the termination of humanoid interfaces. _How ironic_, he thought. He signaled for the secretary to get up and forced her into the other room. The man was sitting at his desk when he saw his secretary coming in his office looking frightened as she ran over to stand next to him. He was confused until he saw Makoto, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki walk into the room. The look on his face went from confusion to shock.

"What the fuck is this? Who are you people?" he demanded.

It was an older man with gray hair and glasses. When Makoto didn't answer, the man stood up to repeat his question but quickly sat back down when Makoto pointed the shotgun at his face.

"I was told you are in charge of terminating humanoid interfaces. I came here to suspend a termination regarding Yuki Nagato, which is that girl at the end." Makoto said, referring the man to Yuki.

The man looked at Yuki, then Kyon and Haruhi and finally at Makoto before looking at Yuki again. Supposedly, Hatoyama should have terminated her a half-hour ago, but for some reason, she was still here and in his office.

The man knew the process of terminating interfaces at the Entity: A humanoid interface sat in a chair with their palms on palm readers, which would analyze data, then deleted crucial files stored in the humanoid's brain. After that action, an order was given to have the chair send electrical surges as a method to destroy all functions within the brain, making the humanoid interface physically dead and concluding the termination process. The Manufacturing floor would claim the body and remove critical parts if usable or destroyed the body to erase its existence. The man assumed Makoto had interrupted the process way before the electrical surge, which explained why Yuki was in that room. Methods to conduct terminations occurred from the room next to the man's office, which sent signals to the interface's interrogation room and to the chair to undergo their termination. That probably explained why the man was frustrated earlier when the process to send signals to the machine to start the surge failed, and he had to use a backup unit in order to continue the process.

He looked at Makoto again and sighed. "I have to stop the continuance of her termination in that room," the man said as he pointed to a door. "Once I override the data, it will stop and she won't be terminated."

Makoto signaled the man to get up. He got up and with Makoto and the others, he took them into the room, which contained a mini command center. He found the backup unit and powered it down, then went to a computer terminal to type in data to cancel her termination, and after a few clicking of keys on the keyboard, he turned to Makoto and told him that her termination was suspended. Makoto asked Yuki if they were still in the process of her termination and she stated that they were not. He ordered the man back up and told him and his secretary to leave the office.

The man who was already frustrated decided to share his final words before they left. "You'll never get out of this place alive. You're making a big mistake."

Makoto already frustrated by delays walked up to the man and said, "That's what everyone keeps telling me," and slammed the butt of the shotgun in his stomach, causing the man to collapse on his knees in pain. He helped the man back up and told him again to leave. The man and his secretary retreated towards the stairway and disappeared out of sight.

Makoto asked Kyon to give him back the tool bag. Collecting the bag, he pulled out two flashbombs and told them to meet him at the intersection up ahead and be prepared to cover Yuki. As they walked away, Makoto went back into the man's office, unlatched both flashbombs, and threw them into the mini command center. He got back into the corridor and made it near the intersection when the bombs exploded, destroying the entire assessment center from the command center to the secretary's office. Makoto wanted to make sure that the man or any other hidden equipment in that room would not try alternate methods in terminating Yuki.

Meeting Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki at the intersection, Makoto looked at the corridors that would take them to the lobby or towards more offices within the lower floor of the observation center. Heading towards the lobby to get back to the eighth floor to get the time warp devices and a few feet from the intersection, Yuki again stopped walking as if she could detect something along the corridor. Her sudden stop alerted Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi, until Makoto thought he heard something at the end of the hall. The end of the hallway branched into a Y, as the path continued out into the lobby. Makoto took a closer look and realized there were doors at the end of this corridor that were open.

Kyon was about to ask Yuki what was wrong until all of them saw a canister from the other side of the corridor fly into the air and hit the ground about 35 feet away from them. It was a silver metallic canister and about the side of a soda can.

Concerned the canister was a bomb, Makoto ordered Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki to retreat to the intersection. When they turned around to run, the canister exploded, releasing a powerful amber light that nearly blinded them, and a shockwave that nearly caused all of them to fall to the ground. Following the explosion was a loud hissing sound. They looked back where the canister exploded and noticed an orange cloud flooding the hallway as smoke drifted in their direction. Assuming the cloud was poisonous gas, Makoto thought the guards were resorting to alternate means in an attempt to stop them and or kill them.

"Go left!" Makoto yelled.

They went left down the corridor towards the offices. Makoto turned around to see if anyone was chasing them and didn't see anyone. Approaching a closed door, Yuki did another incantation to open the door. The door opened, revealing they were at a T intersection. Makoto took the lead and went left to try to get back to the stairs when he saw another group of humanoids approach them. They were firing towards them and a laser passed Makoto's head by mere inches. They quickly turned around while ducking lasers and ran in the other direction, as Makoto stuck to the rear to fire back at the guards while Yuki covered the front. Ahead of them was another intersection and Makoto said to keep going, until he got a glance where the corridor branched a right turn and noticed another set of humanoids rounding the corner towards them.

"Shit! Yuki go right!" Makoto yelled.

Yuki taking the lead went right down the corridor, Kyon and Haruhi followed, and Makoto followed behind them, unlatching and dropping another flashbomb on the ground. Makoto warned Kyon to grab Yuki and cover her. They got within 50 feet past the intersection when the bomb exploded, covering the entire corridor in the blinding white light. Kyon grabbed Yuki to hold her close to his chest so the blinding light would not affect her, and Makoto grabbed Haruhi to cover her from the light, as they waited for the light to dissipate. When the light did dissipate, the lighting in the corridor was very dim. They continued running down the corridor.

As they were running, Makoto noticed that no guards were following them along the hallway that contained separate offices on both walls, and long in the distance was another T intersection. Other than them running down the corridor, there was utter silence.

Tireless from running, Haruhi stopped to catch her breath as Kyon and Makoto ran by her. They had to stop and Kyon called out to Nagato to stay put. She turned around and stood still while waiting for the others to move. Makoto noticed the distance between himself and Haruhi was about four feet. He wanted everyone to stay close to one another.

"Come on Haruhi!" Makoto said.

After it took her a few seconds to compose herself, she moved forward to get in front of Makoto when somehow, something stopped her from moving forward. A ripple effect appeared in front of Haruhi's face when she tried to walk forward, preventing her from moving towards Makoto. Makoto noticed the ripple effect and tried to move towards her but he couldn't get close to her as the same effect appeared in front of him. "Oh no." he said. He noticed whatever was between them was about 3 feet thick.

Haruhi tried to move forward but couldn't. "M-Makoto, what is this?" she said.

Kyon and Yuki who were standing nearby saw the effect and Kyon raced forward to try to get across to her but to no avail. Whatever this thing was, it trapped Haruhi behind some sort of a wall as Makoto, Kyon and Yuki could not reach her. She became scared. "Makoto! Kyon! Do something!" Haruhi yelled.

Makoto thought of a solution. "Haruhi, move over!" Makoto said as he reached for the EMP gun and pointed it at whatever was between them and fired. The effect appeared again. He fired again but the wall was immune to the EMP attack.

Yuki approached the wall. "Nagato, what are they doing?" Kyon asked.

Yuki touched the wall then stood back. "They are using an electromagnetic shield." She stood there for a second, as Kyon, Makoto and Haruhi thought she was trying to analyze the wall's integrity and maybe try something to break through.

"Can you breach this shield Yuki?" Makoto asked.

After looking at the invisible shield, then at Haruhi, she turned to Kyon and Makoto. "I cannot," she responded, "The energy within this shield cannot be breached. I myself do not have the ability to breach the shield."

Makoto was about to go into the bag to get a flashbomb when he heard a noise to his right on the other side of the shield. A door to an office opened, and two guards came out. They surprised Haruhi, who cowered against the opposite wall to protect herself. They looked at her, then at Makoto, Kyon and Yuki, before looking at Haruhi again. Instead of humanoids, these two guards were human. Yuki stood back and performed the incantation she did earlier with her hand extended and mouth rapidly moving. After five seconds, she lowered her hand. Makoto thought Yuki had managed to breach the wall and raised his laser gun to fire at the guards. At the same time, Kyon decided to use the assault rifle that was on his shoulder and he too fired towards the guards. Despite the intensity of the laser ray and Makoto's gun, the same effect appeared. As Makoto and Kyon realized they couldn't use the laser gun, the EMP gun, and the assault rifle Kyon had, both of them lowered their weapons. Makoto could have used the flashbomb to penetrate the shield, but with Haruhi too close, the exploding effect could have harmed her. He made a sigh as frustration appeared on his face.

One of the guards looked at Makoto, Kyon and Yuki with a cold stare while the other grabbed Haruhi. Haruhi tried to resist but the guard grabbed both of her wrists. She tried to kick him, but he turned her around and slammed her against the wall as he put her hands behind her back. The action of the guard pushing Haruhi into the wall made Kyon angry. For the first time ever since meeting Haruhi, that was the first time he had ever saw fear in her face.

The guard that had Haruhi in a wristlock turned to face Makoto, Kyon and Yuki. "Tamotsu Hatoyama has left a message for you Makoto. That message is also for Kyon and Yuki Nagato. Don't expect to leave this facility alive. Hatoyama will get his revenge against you, as he will take Haruhi Suzumiya as a prisoner. She will live but you will die. Good luck trying in getting away from the Entity or saving her as you won't have a chance."

Before the guards turned around, Makoto had a few words to say to the guard. "You tell your fucking boss this isn't over. He'll be a dead man once this is over. And you're not having Haruhi without a fight. If you do anything to her—"

"Save it, Makoto Higashiyama." the other guard interrupted. He turned to face the other guard who had Haruhi in a wristlock and nodded, and they both turned around to walk in the opposite direction, forcing Haruhi to walk with them. Haruhi continued to resist and scream at the guards to let her go, and then screamed at Makoto, Kyon and Yuki to help her. As they saw Haruhi dragged off by the guards towards wherever they were taking her, there was nothing Makoto, Kyon or Yuki could do.

* * *

><p>Makoto, Kyon and Yuki had managed to gain access inside a closed office on the other side of the building on the same floor. They were not able to get through the force field and had to continue down the corridor while Makoto fired at guards—most that were now using stronger weapons against them—who got in their way, and with the help of Yuki, they found an office to stay put. Right now, they needed a plan. They had managed to save Yuki, but now have to save Haruhi from Hatoyama. He wanted to get her quickly but had to think of a way how.<p>

While Makoto stood by one side of the room and Yuki stood by the door watching Kyon stomp across the room, Kyon for the moment was enraged. He was angry mostly with himself for not following what Makoto told him to do. Before they got here, Makoto had told Kyon to protect Haruhi. He was thinking he shouldn't have ran past her when she stopped, but if he did, the electromagnetic shield would have trapped him and her. Matter of fact, those guards had said that he, Yuki and Makoto would not make it out alive. If he had been stuck, would they have killed him in front of Haruhi? Thinking of that thought angered him, as he managed to pick up an office chair in an attempt to throw it against the wall, but Makoto stopped him from making too much noise. Makoto didn't want the guards that were still roaming through that floor to notice them in there.

"Kyon! No!" Makoto whispered loudly as he grabbed the chair. Makoto put the chair down and tried to get Kyon to calm down, but he stormed towards Yuki. "Look, I understand you're angry. I am too, but we need to reassess this situation." Makoto was not mad at Kyon for not protecting Haruhi, but knew the fault was mostly on him since Haruhi was more close to him. He should have known something was lurking in that corridor during that utter silence.

Kyon worried about what the guards or Hatoyama was doing to Haruhi. Ignoring Makoto, he turned his attention to Nagato. "Nagato, do you know what they are doing with her? Or what they plan to do with her?" Kyon asked worried.

As she lowered her head and took a moment, Yuki spoke. "Tamotsu Hatoyama is talking to Haruhi Suzumiya. It appears that he is planning to do something to her, but the details are uncertain as I do not know."

Makoto raised his head after Yuki said that statement. For a moment, Makoto thought the guards would take Haruhi to a confinement similar to what Yuki was in, but not to do something to her. "What do you mean he's planning to do something to her?" It took Makoto a moment to think before he said, "You mean like an experiment?"

Yuki raised her head. "Certain files containing information regarding Tamotsu Hatoyama, the Entity and my mission on Haruhi Suzumiya were deleted during the stages of my termination. I am unable to recover those files. It is uncertain if Hatoyama will plan an experiment on Haruhi Suzumiya. I do not know any details on Hatoyama's plans but there is a possibility that Hatoyama could do something to endanger Haruhi."

Kyon started to have thoughts. Based on what Kyon saw in the city and inside the Entity from the ground floor on up, humanoids made up most of the population than humans. Kevin back at the mansion had said they would enter a world where humans and humanoids existed. Was it possible that Hatoyama did secret experiments that changed humans to humanoids? And if that were the case and Hatoyama now had Haruhi, would he change her into a humanoid interface? Kyon made a frustrating sigh. Haruhi may be a god, but even she wouldn't want _that _to happen. And if he did change her, what would that mean for their time period? He could not allow that man to conduct an experiment on Haruhi, just as he wouldn't allow the Entity to take Nagato away. Instead of standing there trying to figure out what to do, Kyon knew they had save Haruhi and fast. Hell, if Asahina and Koizumi were there, they would want Kyon to save her. Makoto had mentioned violence before, and it looked like violence was their only option. He turned around towards Makoto. "W-We have to save her. We can't let that bastard touch Haruhi. If he tries something on her—"

Makoto already knew they had to save her, but with guards using stronger weapons against them, he could not do everything by himself. One of their stronger weapons was around Kyon's shoulder, and he remembered that Kyon had fired that weapon in an attempt to breach that shield. He took the assault rifle from around his shoulder and handed it to Kyon. "We are not going to let that fucker harm Haruhi by any means Kyon, but like I told you and Haruhi, we would have to resort to violence once we got Yuki. I know you didn't want to use these weapons and I understand why, but the game field has changed. All three of us have to cause chaos to get Haruhi, and since I saw you use that gun on your back, you will use that _and_ this."

Makoto forced the assault rifle to his chest before placing his hand on Kyon's shoulder. "You and Haruhi were determined to sacrifice your lives for Yuki. If they trapped you behind that shield, do you think Haruhi would let you go without a fight? Now that Haruhi is in danger, are you willing to make a sacrifice to save her?"

Kyon looked at the assault rifle Makoto gave him and sighed. He only shot the gun on his back because he thought Yuki was able to penetrate the shield. He regretted firing it, but realized that if they were going to die, he was willing to help Makoto fire upon those guards that got in their way.

He took the gun from Makoto. "Let's get her." Kyon said with the same enraged look on his face.

Makoto nodded. He knew Kyon didn't want to fire the weapon, but told him to think of the guards as machines and not as humans. Makoto and Kyon both knew that Haruhi was a headstrong girl, but there was no way in this dimension Haruhi could save herself from danger, and they needed to get her out alive.

Makoto addressed Yuki. "Yuki, you need to assist us. I know you said you would earlier, but this will be intense. If you have any powers or create force fields that can help us, I want you to use them to protect us."

Yuki looked at him and made a light nod.

Makoto went into the bag, grabbed two magazines for the assault rifle and quickly showed Kyon how to reload and fire the weapon. After giving Kyon the two-minute assessment on the rifle, along with telling him to use up the assault rifle before switching to the laser ray, he told Kyon and Yuki his plan was to get the time warp devices first before reaching Haruhi. To Makoto, Haruhi's safety was very critical, but there was a possibility that if they got Haruhi first, they would not be able to reach the time warp devices to get out of there, as many more humanoids would use powerful weapons against them. There was even the possibility with the breach that if the Entity could not handle the situation, tactical forces from the city would interfere, and that would pose as another serious problem. He reassessed how many canisters he had in the bag to ensure they could fight against the guards and noticed they only had three flashbombs and six CR canisters left. He had to start using the CR canisters more to stop those guards but stay alive so the CR gas wouldn't kill them. His EMP and laser guns were still useful, and he checked the disrupter to see if the thing wasn't working since it failed to protect him in the interrogation room. To his amazement, the thing was still working but knew it was useless against the Entity, especially during the breach.

He asked Yuki to be ready to open the door and for Kyon to be ready to fire. Resorting to the bullpup shotgun and saving the EMP and laser gun for last, he told Yuki to open the door. He took a moment to look at his watch to see what time it was: 1841 hours. If Hatoyama was planning to do something to Haruhi, he assumed they had less than 10 minutes to get her. As Yuki opened the door, they walked out of the room into the corridor. With the coast as clear, they ran quietly towards the lobby to get to the eighth floor.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Dangerous Intentions**

Hatoyama and Masako were inside Hatoyama's office on the eleventh floor waiting to hear about the status on Makoto, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki. Hatoyama was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands while Masako and Kamiko Maruyama were standing next to him. Because of the breach, Kamiko was in Hatoyama's office as a precaution, where he quickly gave her information about her mission, but had to add that she and Masako may become useful soon in getting rid of the intruders that were causing a serious problem within the Entity. Several guards—both human and humanoid—were inside his office and out in the corridor to protect him from Makoto. The guards had notified Hatoyama that they lost sight of the intruders when they entered the observation center. Because Hatoyama had lost enough guards, security could use stronger firepower against them, but it still wasn't working. A recent report minutes after on the report of the invasion of the observation center stated that Yuki had fought against the humanoids and someone, particularly Makoto, had blown up the assessment center, preventing any ability to shut down Yuki Nagato completely from functioning. The Municipal Tactical Police of Orion City had notified the Entity if they needed additional firepower and Hatoyama had said they were handling it, but now, he was second-guessing himself that he should have accepted their offer.

There had been a plan to trap Makoto, Kyon and Haruhi, and Yuki in that corridor near the observation center, where the guards would block off access to the lobby and the other end of the building, causing them to run down that corridor, and Hatoyama was still awaiting information on whether the trap had worked. From what he heard, they would monitor the hallway from the security division and set a shield when necessary to capture Haruhi, or capture all of them. He continued to urge the guards to not kill Haruhi but rather focus their concentration on Makoto, Kyon and Yuki.

He took his hands off his face and got up to walk around his desk, as Masako and Kamiko stood there vertically still watching him walk around. After a few minutes, a high-ranking humanoid guard walked in to tell Hatoyama about the result of their plan.

"Hatoyama-san, I have information regarding the plan to trap the intruders. We have captured the organic life form of Haruhi Suzumiya," he said, "The girl will be here shortly." The guard then told Hatoyama that they were not able to capture Makoto, Kyon (the guard had said Kyon's actual name), and Yuki. They were limited on guards and had some stationed in several offices down that corridor for the trap. It was "unexpected" luck when the girl stopped to catch her breath near the office where two guards were in place, and the man had left a gap between himself and the girl, allowing the security division to set the shield. The electromagnetic shield would have trapped all of them, but somehow in error, the security division only set the trap to stop Haruhi. The guard assured Hatoyama they would capture Makoto, Kyon and Yuki and handle the matter as quickly as possible. So far, they had lost sight of the three in the area of Offices Bravo on the ninth floor, and they were attempting to find them.

The news was positive for Hatoyama, since they had managed to get Haruhi. He told the guard to resume their duties in finding the others. Since they captured Haruhi, he wanted to talk to the girl before he set forth on his own secretive plan.

As Hatoyama went to sit back down, he could tell the guards were bringing Haruhi to his office due to her screaming commands at the guards to let her go. Her yelling got louder as they got close to his office. _"Ow! You're hurting my arm! Dammit, let me go!"_

Two guards had walked into Hatoyama's office as both of them had a tight grip on Haruhi's upper arms. The guards that were scattered by the door stood by the wall in a military style posture. She was trying to resist as the guards brought her to Hatoyama's desk but stopped when she saw Hatoyama. As the guards continued to hold on to her arms to prevent her from moving, she looked up and recognized his face and razored hairstyle from the photo Makoto had shown her and Kyon earlier.

"Well hello, Haruhi Suzumiya. It is such a pleasure meeting the 'creator of all.'" He said as he shrugged his shoulders and extended his hands out in the air with a smile.

She stood there in desperation as she looked around the room. Men that looked like guards but were dressed differently than what she saw earlier were behind Hatoyama and bordering the room by the door with the same advanced assault rifles she saw on the twelfth floor. She noticed a woman with blonde hair heavily dressed in black that looked angry, and saw another girl in a North High uniform with a monotone expression that resembled what she saw in Yuki. It was the complete outfit with the brown jacket. She had light auburn hair in a kawaii hairstyle that was almost past the length of her shoulders in a black headband along with maroon red eyes. Haruhi had never seen that girl before and wondered why she was there and in that North High uniform. She moved her attention to the man sitting before her.

Haruhi saw how his smile looked more like a smirk. She didn't like his smile, and wondered how he knew her name. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?" she demanded, even though she knew his name. She couldn't move as the guards still had a tight grip on her arms. She continued flooding him with questions. "Where are my friends? "What do you want with me?"

Hatoyama got up and approached Haruhi until he was in front of her. He bent down until his face was at eye-level with Haruhi. "Relax young one, your friends are still alive. Well, sort of."

Haruhi tried to move back but couldn't. She didn't want to be close to this "dangerous" man, the same one who abducted Yuki and ordered his men to kill them.

Hatoyama stood up and continued to look at Haruhi. "As for who I am, I am Tamotsu Hatoyama and I am the president of the Integrated Data Sentient Entity. As you may have guessed, I am Yuki's boss." He turned around and walked back to his desk to sit down. "I know everything about you Haruhi. I've even known you since three years ago in your time period when you were a middle school student, maybe even longer. I also know your lifestyle, your friends, and your desires."

"You don't know a damn thing about me." Haruhi scowled. She knew a lot about him too, but thought it was better if he didn't know. If she told Hatoyama what she knew about him, Hatoyama could use it against her later. "Why did you bring me here? And why did you abduct Yuki?"

Hatoyama moved forward in his chair. "I wouldn't say we _abducted_ Yuki, but rather we took her back so she could serve her punishment."

Haruhi was about to speak again but Hatoyama interrupted her from speaking, as he was tired of her constant questions. "Why don't we talk about why _you're_ here? That way, you'll find out about _why_ we took Yuki."

Haruhi maintained the same look of anger as Hatoyama sat back and clasped his hands together on the desk. "I know why you're here, Haruhi. You're here because you and your friends came here to get Yuki back. I have to admit that I am impressed seeing _you_ here, along with that boy and that man. You three really had the nerve to come in here and cause chaos in getting one girl, huh?" He scoffed. "You think we know nothing of you Haruhi, but judging what you've seen so far with your own eyes, we know everything about you, including your secret personality. Now I would go on further into details about how we know you, but let me get straight to the point about why you're here in this office. You and your friend Kyon along with that man got involved in something you shouldn't have. Matter of fact, you have Kyon to blame for why you're here standing in front of me."

Haruhi felt tightness in her chest. She wondered how he knew Kyon also. "How do you know him? And why would he be the reason why I'm here?" She asked.

"You probably remember that incident where Kyon fell down the stairs at school that year in December do you? What you don't know is during that month, Yuki did something to the Entity that would have resulted in us taking her away from your time period to suffer a harsh punishment, and your friend Kyon only made it worse.

"You see, your friend Yuki is an alien, humanoid interface. In modern terms, you could call her half human, half android. The girl you see in the uniform of your high school is also an alien, humanoid interface. They have something within them to create, manipulate and destroy the environment, or what we consider as data, similar to what you are capable of doing Haruhi, but I can't tell you what it is because I would only confuse you. She would take Yuki's place when we would have terminated her for her actions, but plans changed when you, Kyon and that man breached our Entity. So you are probably wondering what I am getting at when I said she has something within her to change her environment around her. She had an order to follow by the Entity. Given by me, her boss, that order was to monitor you. She violated that order when she modified the data in your time period and took something away from you... the ability to become human and live in a normal world."

Haruhi's anger faded from her face as it switched to confusion. She tried to interrupt him again, but he continued talking.

"Apparently, the errors within her caused her to exhibit this behavior, and her behavior violated protocol. Thus, we took her away so she would serve her punishment. Now because of her actions that year in December, there were several talks about how to punish her or acquit her of what she did. As you see, those who work for the Entity that violate protocol tend to suffer great and harsh consequences. It took us three months to figure out what to do with Yuki, and I myself would have sided with acquitting her. But when your friend Kyon challenged us that he would make you recreate your world where we would not exist in order to save Yuki, we were threatened by the fact that as a human, he would actually attempt to create chaos and get you involved to save Yuki and change the universe because of something you have."

He moved forward in his chair, as his earlier smile changed to a look of disgust. "Let me not be mistaken when I say this, but we will not accept his intentions to do that, just as we weren't expecting him, that man and you to come in here and cause hell in getting Yuki. Your friend thought by recreating your world, he could save Yuki and make us not exist. Surely, he is mistaken as the Entity would still exist, but Yuki would never come back as we would have terminated her. Therefore, since I could not punish Yuki for her actions, _you_ will take her place to suffer the consequences. I may have not completed Yuki's termination, but we have a lot in store for you Haruhi, and your friends once we find them."

Haruhi's eyes widened, as her face now contained a mix of confusion and shock. She quickly reviewed what he had just said so she could understand. She was here because of Kyon challenging the Entity because of what Yuki did last year, and because of their actions, she was paying the price. And what did he say about he "had a lot in store" for her? Haruhi looked around the room again and glanced at the humanoid interface still standing in that North High uniform, along with the other guards. After a second, Haruhi realized what he had in store for her as she became scared. This man was planning to do an experiment. And based on the surrounding environment of those that looked like humanoid interfaces surrounding her, he would change her from what she knew herself as a human, but others as a god _into _a humanoid interface.

If this were true, the thought of it made Haruhi sick. He could not do that to her, and she would not let him. After realizing his intentions, she lightly said no but restored to screaming the word no while trying to resist in getting away. Her legs got weak and she would have collapsed on the floor on her knees, but the guards continued to hold her. "You can't do this to me! I don't... Why are you doing this to me?" Haruhi yelled.

Hatoyama maintained the same face. Haruhi would later find out that when Hatoyama made decisions, he never reconsidered them. Even a headstrong girl on the verge of tears pleading for her life would not make Hatoyama change his mind. What Kevin had said about him as a scumbag and his method of solving peace with violence was true to the point. Hatoyama stood up from his desk and looked at the hopeless girl. "Don't worry Haruhi," he said with that same smirk, "it only gets better for you."

Haruhi couldn't talk as she looked at the ground still in desperation. She refused to believe what he said about Kyon and Yuki starting the problem, which would result in Hatoyama punishing her instead. As she looked at the ground hopeless, Hatoyama had told the guards to take her to a laboratory on the tenth floor, a laboratory that was his. Hatoyama handed the guard a computer tablet and a small gadget almost resembling a USB zip drive, along with codes to his lab and a machine downstairs. After he told them he would meet them there shortly, the guards proceeded to the lab with Haruhi.

* * *

><p>After descending a stairway and down several corridors, the guards and Haruhi reached the lab Hatoyama would engage in an experiment with Haruhi. After entering a code at the entrance, the doors opened and they walked past several labs in a partly dimmed environment before coming to another set of tall doors to Hatoyama's lab. After the guard put in a different code to gain access inside, the doors opened and they walked into Hatoyama's secret laboratory. The room itself was large, almost double of the interrogation room and was a faded teal green white color. At the end of the room opposite of the doors was a large machine that was almost as tall as the room and contained a seating area for one person on one side. The other side of the large machine had a curved-like structure that looped back to the seating area and had what appeared to be a large rod of some sort with several other rod or needle-like devices along side of it. Several computer screens and devices were scattered at the base, along with vitals containing an unknown liquid and a storage compartment. Next to the machine was a concealed elevated observation area in the corner with a window that faced the large structure. If this machine turned humans into humanoid interfaces, Haruhi did not want to be near it, or on it.<p>

"No! Stop! Don't put me on that thing!" Haruhi yelled as she continued to free herself from the tight clutches of the guards. The machine was getting closer and Haruhi continued to squirm in an attempt to get away, but knowing she couldn't fight back with her hands, Haruhi stopped squirming and tried to think of an alternate way to break free. She could still walk and thought she could use her feet in order to kick them to let her go. Since they were human, they should suffer pain.

They approached a computer screen to the machine and the guard on Haruhi's right took out the device Hatoyama handed him earlier and plugged it into an input jack, then put in the code Hatoyama gave him at his office. After placing in the code, the guard had to enter additional information on the screen based on the information on the computer tablet. As he was doing that, Haruhi looked at the screen and noticed the series of data the guard would have to put in, which would take a while. The guard on her left was holding her other arm and looking towards the screen. If she wanted to get away, the time was now.

Haruhi decided that she should kick the guard on her left first, then the one on her right but noticing their boots, she knew she couldn't kick them in the shin but maybe in the knee. She sighed and mumbled what she had wished for earlier, then leaned towards the guard on her right. As the guard on her left was about to look at Haruhi, she quickly raised her left foot and with the strength she had, she kicked him in his knee hard. The sudden jolt of pain caused the man to let go of Haruhi's left arm, as she used her right foot to kick the guard on her right in his knee. The guard who was inputting information on the screen was forced to his right from Haruhi kicking him, causing him to let go of Haruhi's other arm. The guard on her left tried to grab her, but with both arms free, she put her hands on the guards face and stabbed her thumbs into his eyes, again while shoving her right foot below his stomach, causing him to grunt in more pain while moving back. Realizing she was free, she bolted for the door as the guard who was behind her tried to grab her, but missed as she was running for the door.

"Hey you! Stop right there!" said the guard by the computer screen and went to run to catch Haruhi but was stopped by his comrade.

Haruhi had gotten a running start as the door back into the corridor was closing in. The room was very large, and she didn't remember getting into the room so quickly. Hell, she didn't remember how they got there in the first place. She needed to find Kyon, Yuki and Makoto fast. As the door was fast approaching, she took a second to look back at the guards who stood by the machine. She thought the guards would try to chase her but they stood by the machine with an angry look. Haruhi went to look forward towards the door, when she noticed that the doors were no longer there, but a tall, dark object was entirely in front of her.

Haruhi tried to dodge the object at the split second but crashed head long into it, causing her to ricochet backwards and fall to the ground. She felt like she had crashed into a brick wall. Slightly dazed, she looked up at the object... or person that was standing in front of her that wasn't there a second ago. The person was the same woman she saw in Hatoyama's office with the blonde hair and complete black attire. She stared at Haruhi with her angry burnt orange eyes. Before Haruhi could get up, the woman advanced forward and grabbed the collar of her jacket while picking her up in one fast vertical fashion as Haruhi struggled to stand on her feet. The woman got close to Haruhi's face.

"Where do you think you are going little one?" said the woman in a loud, harsh tone.

Haruhi tried to put her hands on the woman's arm to let her go but she spun Haruhi around and placed her hands tightly on her shoulders. As Haruhi tried to get the woman's hands off her, the weight in her hands changed, as they became heavy and Haruhi fell to the ground on her knees. She yelped in pain as her knees hit the ground hard and resorted to a state of despair. Feeling the pain in her knees and realizing she wasn't getting out of that room no matter how hard she fought, Haruhi finally gave up. It was no use, as she was defenseless and these people would have their way of her. Haruhi looked at the woman holding her down on the floor.

"Please, just let me go." Haruhi pleaded.

The woman didn't have any sympathy for Haruhi. "Get up!" the woman yelled.

When Haruhi ignored her commands, she lifted Haruhi up and forced her to walk forward towards the machine. As the woman pushed her towards the large structure, Haruhi was hoping that Makoto, Kyon and Yuki would get there soon to save her. If she had these powers when she was depressed or angry that gave her the ability to change or destroy the world, which she was depressed and angry now, why were they not working? She could only think of one thing as she was approaching the large structure:_ They are going to kill me. Where are you Kyon? Makoto? Yuki?_


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Thou Shall Save**

Makoto, Kyon and Yuki were descending the stairway from the ninth floor to the eighth floor. They encountered several guards along their way from the office on down, and were now exiting the stairway on the eighth floor. Makoto took down two guards in the lobby, and he and Kyon both took down a guard on opposite ends of the inner ring intersections bordering the individual labs. Several men who were investigating the damage done to the other stairway and adjacent elevator didn't expect the firefight and hit the floor to cover themselves from laser fire. Makoto could tell they were not guards and yelled for them to leave.

As Yuki was behind Kyon, and as they saw the hallway leading towards the outer ring corridor and a section of labs 2A and 2F, they noticed an odd shaped structure coming towards them. The structure resembled those large machines seen in the recent _Terminator_ movies, except it had a guard standing inside of it at the controls, and several cannons were alongside the structure along with a gun turret.

Before Kyon could warn Makoto of the incoming threat, Makoto yelled for them to follow him. Kyon started running until he noticed Yuki was still standing there looking at the structure approaching the lobby. He yelled for Yuki, even grabbed her hand to run but her arm didn't move and she stood there stiff. Makoto noticed the structure approaching Yuki as Kyon tried to get her away from the machine and ran towards her.

As he got within mere feet, one of the machine's cannons shot a lightning bolt directly towards Yuki. As it looked like the bolt would hit her, a bright blue transparent shield formed in front of her as Yuki's mouth was moving rapidly, preventing the bolt to make a direct strike. Makoto had to cover his face from the blinding light but could see Yuki standing there as Kyon concealed his eyes from the light. As the lightning bolt continued to push towards her, the machine the guard was on began to malfunction. What seemed like a long process ended, as the bolt shot back towards the guard. The bolt of lightning caused parts of the machine to explode, crippling the structure and electrified the guard inside, causing him to lean backwards in the machine. The transparent shield that formed in front of Yuki disappeared instantly, along with the blinding light.

Makoto ran towards the damaged machine and noticed the dead guard, which was a humanoid, hang backwards inside the machine. He looked at Yuki and Kyon, and got a shocked expression from Kyon and nothing out of Yuki.

"The space within this hallway and special frequencies from the tactical machine created a temporarily data jurisdiction, which resulted in the formation of a repulsion field." Yuki said.

_So that was a repulsion field,_ Makoto thought as he looked at the crippled machine, and then at Yuki.

"Very impressive Yuki. Well done." Makoto said.

They ran forward past the machine and went left down the inner ring corridor that bordered Labs 2C and 2B. Makoto remembered they walked towards the outer ring corridor on the other side to Lab 2B, but thinking that another one of those large machines were in that area, he decided to retrace their steps back to that door into the lab that had the time warp devices. Disabling two additional guards along the corridor and passing the maintenance room where Makoto found the tool bag and rope, they arrived at the door.

"Nagato, can you open this door?" Kyon asked.

Yuki walked to the door and with an incantation, she tried to corrupt the circuits within the door to open it, but could not when the swipe reader made an error sound. "I cannot trigger the door to open. The Entity has put this laboratory and many others on lock down due to the breach. Unless the Entity unlocks this door, I am not successful in corrupting the data to opening the door unless—.

"We blow it in." Makoto interrupted her, grabbing a flashbomb out of the bag.

Yuki turned to face Makoto. If she had an emotion, it would have shown anger as she warned Makoto about his actions. "Your actions to use that device constitute a moderate possibility on whether the device will work. The magnitude of the energy from that device may not be enough to breach the door or blow the door inward."

Makoto sighed. To him, her terminology of "moderate possibility" meant it could or could not work. Going for the former, he changed his mind and asked Yuki if there was an alternate way to get in.

"There is." Yuki said.

Yuki walked to the middle of the door. Where there was a half-inch crest between the doors, she placed her fingers inside the crest. She stood back slightly, as she forced opened the doors in their sideways motion. She walked in between the doors while keeping them open and told Makoto and Kyon to move forward. Makoto pushed Kyon through the threshold under Yuki's arm and followed him in, as Yuki moved into the laboratory and the doors closed behind her. They didn't notice when they walked in, but a young technician stood by a machine, as her eyes were wide open from watching Yuki opening the doors with her hands. She tried to run forward to trigger an alarm a few feet near her but Makoto quickly interfered and stopped her while covering her mouth. The technician became frightened.

"Don't scream and make any sudden movements," Makoto whispered, "We only came here for a few items. We're not here to hurt you. Understand?"

The woman nodded. Makoto let her go and asked her to direct them to the time traveling devices. Following his order, she complied and guided them through the lab to the casing containing the four items. They reached the area of the lab and the casing when they noticed a humanoid guard talking to the older technician Makoto and Kyon saw earlier. When the guard and technician saw Makoto, Kyon and Yuki, the guard yelled for them to surrender and quickly went for his sidearm. Kyon quickly switched to the assault rifle on his back and fired at the guard. The guard never got a chance to fire his weapon as the strong laser ray struck him in the stomach, sending the guard down on his knees before he collapsed forward. The technician raised his hands in the air as a state of shock showed on his face.

"What the... _y-you_ two?" the technician yelled, shock to see Makoto and Kyon with guns. As the young technician cowered between two machines and Yuki approached the stand containing the devices, Makoto and Kyon approached the technician.

Makoto was straightforward as he grabbed the man's collar. "We came here for the time warp devices. We don't have a lot of time old man. If your life means anything, you'll give them to us and run away."

The technician who was scared lowered his hands. No one could access those devices except him. But noticing the young kid pointing the laser ray weapon at him and this man close to his face, he didn't want to argue with them.

"I... I-I…," The man stuttered, "T-To open the case, I-I need to acquire a code to open the case."

"Then get it!" Kyon demanded.

The technician became nervous. "I-I don't have the code. The code comes at random—"

"Fine, I'll just shoot the glass!"

"Wait!" the technician yelled at Kyon. He could tell the young man was beyond upset. "If you shoot the glass, it'll trigger an alarm and you won't get to them. Let me get the code and you can have them."

Makoto put his hand on Kyon's shoulder to calm him down. Sure, Kyon was enraged, but he was going too far. Makoto let go of the technician, as the man moved towards a computer terminal near the casing and began acquiring the code to open the case. After a minute went by of the man rapidly clattering keys on the keyboard, he finally got the code and walked over to the case to enter the code. The sound of a ding occurred along with a green light, indicating the code was correct and the case opened. Makoto stood by the man and ordered him to put the time warp devices in the bag. The man carefully collected each one and placed them in the bag as ordered. As the technician was placing the last device in the bag while Kyon and Yuki stood by, the doors from the outer ring corridor opened, as five guards flooded in armed with assault rifles.

"Get down!" Makoto yelled. Makoto pulled the technician down as they ducked behind the stand as Kyon and Yuki hid behind a large electric switchboard. The guards came in firing with the same laser ray guns. The glass covering to the casing shattered, raining over Makoto and the technician, as pieces of the switchboard nearly hit Kyon and Yuki from their tight shielded position. Makoto assumed that without the use of radios, if a humanoid was down, it alerted several other guards to the location of the down guard. Had Makoto not forced the technician down with him to the floor, the guards could have killed him. The younger technician who took shelter between the two machines screamed while covering her head with her hands, as she begged the guards to stop but they ignored her.

Makoto had noticed that it took a moment for the laser ray guns to reload themselves before firing, giving him the chance to rise and fire with the bullpup shotgun. He stood up and fired the shotgun, taking down one guard that approached him and the remaining four two at a time. He didn't notice that during the firefight, another guard had snuck into the lab and was alongside of the casing with a sidearm. The guard rose and quickly fired at Makoto, striking him in his left shoulder. Makoto yelled in pain while falling down next to the technician. He fired the shotgun towards the guard, bringing him down to the floor. Pissed off at the guard for shooting him, he tried to fire the shotgun again, but ran out of ammo.

With much of the guards at the front down, Kyon and Yuki approached Makoto. "Makoto are you okay?" Kyon asked.

Makoto managed to get back up and looked at his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess." He said straining in pain. He looked at the area where the laser struck him and noticed a large swollen bruise on his shoulder and the inside of the coat had a dent where the laser hit him. Kyon was shocked to see that the laser only caused a bruise until Makoto stated he was wearing a coat equipped with special armor. He knew the armor only protected him from lasers shot from smaller guns, but could not protect him from weapons like the advanced assault rifles, gun turrets and lightning bolts shot from tactical machines. He noticed the technician still on the floor and grabbed his hand to help him up. The technician got back on his feet and saw the carnage near the entrance from the outer ring corridor before looking at Makoto with a stunned look. As Makoto reloaded the bullpup shotgun, the younger technician who took shelter emerged and approached the older man to see if he was all right. Makoto found out that the young technician was the daughter of the older man.

"You and her need to get out of here," Makoto said to the man while clutching his injured shoulder, "It's only going to get worse."

The younger technician grabbed hold of her father's hand in an attempt to leave. He took one last look at Makoto, Kyon and Yuki. He remembered that a young girl in a gakuran was with them earlier, but now a different girl in a school outfit was with them instead. He now understood why the man and young man had guns, and it had something to do with both girls.

"I hope you guys know what you're doing." the man said in a concerned manner. He had to thank Makoto for that ordeal earlier. "Thanks for saving my ass."

"Don't mention it," Makoto said with his hand covering his shoulder, "But tell me where Tamotsu Hatoyama conducts secret experiments. Does he have a laboratory?"

The man looked at his daughter before looking back at Makoto and sighed. "All I know is he has a laboratory on the tenth floor near the observation center, but other than that, I know nothing. I'm _not _supposed to know."

Makoto nodded for them to go. Before the father and his daughter ran out the opened entrance out into the outer ring corridor, Makoto warned them to find a deep underground bunker and stay there for a long time, for something bad would happen soon. They took the advice and ran out.

Makoto picked up the tool bag. He along with Kyon and Yuki ran towards the opened door out into the hallway and noticed the coast was clear. Makoto took a moment to check the remote for the bomb to indicate the remote could still send and receive signals through the remote. After pressing the test button, the light on the remote lit green, indicating the bomb was still active in that laboratory downstairs. Makoto made a sigh of relief. He then turned to Kyon. "Let's get your friend Kyon."

Through the door and retracing back to the lobby, Makoto checked the damaged stairway to see if they could ascend that stairway since the other was across from the security division. It was no use as the flashbomb destroyed the stairwell, eliminating any ability of reaching the upper or lower floors. Makoto checked Kyon's less powerful assault rifle for ammo and noticed he still had enough ammo. He also provided Kyon a flashbomb in case there was a heavy presence at the lobby and showed him how to unlatch it. After the quick evaluation, they ascended the other stairway in stealth and reached the tenth floor. Through the windowed door, Makoto noticed a few guards out in the lobby, but less than what he saw earlier when they ran towards the observation center.

Makoto faced Kyon and Yuki."You ready for this?"

Kyon along with Yuki nodded.

Makoto unlatched the flashbomb, but waited two seconds before throwing the device into the lobby. He grabbed Kyon and Yuki to run down the stairs when it exploded, sending the door into the stairway as it almost broke off its hinges. In the lobby, the bomb disabled five guards and forced the elevator doors into the shaft. Because Makoto had timed the duration of the blinding bright light to ten seconds, he ran back up to the doorway at the ninth second as the light faded. Entering the lobby, he noticed the five downed guards and saw the hallway leading to the infantry and other labs. Kyon and Yuki got behind and they all ran down the corridor. They had to take out two more guards by another set of double doors leading into the laboratory, which was at an intersection of another corridor leading to infantry.

"Yuki, get that door open!" Makoto yelled as he unlatched several CR canisters and threw them back towards the lobby to prevent other guards from encountering them. Yuki got to the door first and with the same mysterious method earlier, she managed to open the double doors, allowing Kyon to enter the lab.

"Makoto! Come on!" Kyon yelled.

"Makoto proceed forward towards the lab and unlatched the second to last CR canister down the hallway to infantry as some guards were running towards them before entering the lab as Yuki shut the doors. As the doors closed, the canister exploded with the yellowish cloud, causing two guards near the canister to pass out. The remaining guards that were trying to reach the doors to the laboratory retreated to the infantry to stay away from the gas.

Makoto, Kyon and Yuki were now in a partly dimmed corridor lined with individual laboratories devoted to separate causes. The walls were stone gray with white in some areas and several steel tables made like large blocks lined the middle of the corridor, making the hallway look like a room. There were four doors on the left coated in white and one door about midway on the right in yellow. They approached the yellow door and saw a digital electronic code lock on the side in an arrangement of odd letters. Before Kyon could speak out, Makoto hushed him, for he could hear something on the other side of the door. He put his face to the door to get a noticeable sound and recognized sounds coming from a machine, preferably a large one. He could make out someone making grunting noises in an attempt to get free, and then he heard a loud scream coming from a girl.

It was Haruhi.

Yuki must have heard her screams because she moved forward and tried to open the door in the earlier manner but could not get it open. She also tried an incantation with the keypad to get a code or corrupt the lock mechanisms to open the door but that didn't work.

Kyon also heard Haruhi scream and felt tightness in his chest. "Shit! Is that Haruhi in there?"

"Haruhi Suzumiya is in this room," Yuki responded, "I am unable to open these doors to gain access inside."

"What about the integrity of the door? And in inches please." Makoto asked.

"Steel with thickness of 8 inches. Based on the integrity of the door, the density of the material is 0.318 pounds per cubic inch for each door. I don't know if the door from the interrogation room is the same material."

There was another series of Haruhi's screams through the door, as all of them caused Kyon's heart to sink.

"_KYON! MAKOTO! YUKI! HELP ME!"_

"Kyon was getting nervous. They didn't have time to think scientific dimensions. He wanted to blow the door inward, get Haruhi and get the hell out of there. Suddenly, there was a louder noise resembling a deep humming noise.

"There is a large machine in this room in its initial stages of operation." Yuki said.

He pulled out the flashbomb Makoto gave him. "Goddammit Makoto, we don't have any time! We need to blow this damn door! Nagato, this will blow the door inward right?" Kyon yelled.

Yuki looked at the door, then at Kyon. "That device is capable of damaging the door, but you will need two to breach this entrance. One will not be enough to breach these doors."

Had Yuki not stopped Makoto from using a flashbomb downstairs, they would have had one left. Makoto gave the tool bag to Yuki and told her to get behind one of the steel tables about 35 feet away from the door and stay there, as he and Kyon would set the device and meet her to cover her from the light. She started walking towards the table as Makoto pulled the last flashbomb out of his coat pocket. He noticed two small propane-like gas tanks about 20 feet away from the door near the end of the room. Makoto knew the propane tanks would pose a problem when the flashbomb detonated, causing them to explode and engulf that entire portion of the room.

Yuki had made it to the table and sat down on the floor, as she waited for Makoto and Kyon. At the door, Makoto had the last flashbomb in his hand. He looked at Kyon. "You remember how to unlatch this?" Makoto asked with the flashbomb in his hands. Kyon nodded.

"Okay. We set them on the floor when I get to two. After four seconds, it explodes. You ready?" Again, Kyon nodded.

Makoto started from one and got to two, as both of them unlatched the bombs, set them on the floor at the center, then ran quickly towards the steel table. They got to the table to cover Yuki just in time as the flashbombs detonated. The propane tanks that were 20 feet away from the door also exploded, covering an area around the tanks with fire, but something in the bright light kept the fire contained on the opposite side of the room so it wouldn't spread towards the steel table. After the light faded, Makoto and Kyon quickly looked up to see if the bombs were able to breach the door. A closer look revealed that while the bombs did manage to blow the doors inward, it left a four-foot hole in the middle, making a sort-of crawl space into the lab. Makoto took the bag from Yuki and all three of them ran into the lab. It was time to finish this once and for all.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: ...And She **_**Did**_

Six people were standing in front of the large machine. The two guards that brought Haruhi down, Hatoyama, the woman in black, the girl in the North High uniform, and some assistant wearing a black lab coat stood near the base of the machine as Haruhi was shackled to the seat by her wrists and feet, as a heavy duty strap covered her chest and lower abdomen. Hanging from the ceiling, a lamp flooded Haruhi's face with shining light, blinding her as she tried to keep her eyes open. She faced her opponents, as they all stared at her. Hatoyama still had that smiling smirk, the woman and girl showed no expression, and the guards and the man in the lab coat showed a straight face.

Hatoyama made a motion to the man in the lab coat, as he walked into the elevated observation area while he walked forward towards the machine. "How are you feeling Haruhi Suzumiya?" he asked.

Haruhi continued to squirm in the seat as sweat from the light flooded over her face. "Get me off this thing Hatoyama!" she yelled.

Hatoyama walked backwards until he was next to the woman and girl. He began the discussion on what he would do to Haruhi. He told Haruhi the machine she was on was what they called a "human converter." The purpose of the machine was to turn humans into humanoid interfaces. In order to do that, the large device would process a very tiny microchip that would control all human functions within the brain. That chip contained data based on the device Hatoyama handed the guard earlier. Once the machine processed the chip, it would implant the chip into the human brain by sending the microchip through the rod into the human's skull and into the brain. By doing so, the rod would rest against the human's forehead for where the device would insert the chip, and a hidden needle instrument would implant the chip quickly through the skull into the brain. When this process was complete, the assistant in the black lab coat would send signals to the chip within, which would collect energy inside the human body and transfer it to the chip. The other rod and needle-like devices would modify the new humanoid to have the necessary powers and behaviors other humanoid interfaces had.

Hatoyama concluded his speech by saying that while he could not terminate Yuki for her actions, he would punish Haruhi by turning her into a humanoid interface, where she would become property of the Integrated Data Sentient Entity. Haruhi had guessed his intentions correctly, as she continued to squirm.

After the long speech, Hatoyama asked her if she had any last words before her operation would begin. Haruhi only responded with two words. "You're crazy."

Hatoyama chuckled. "Well let's see how this procedure goes Haruhi."

He motioned the woman and the girl to follow him into the elevated observation area as the guards stood by the machine to begin the experiment. Haruhi continued to squirm out of the chair in order to get free but it was no use. The shackles over her wrists were very tight, preventing her from slipping her hands out of the grasp. Unable to get loose out of the chair, there was one thing Haruhi could do, in an attempt to get Makoto, Kyon and Yuki to find her... scream.

Haruhi tried screaming as loud as she could. It was very loud, but judging by the large room, she did not think they could hear her. Suddenly, a voice boomed over a speaker system within the room. It was Hatoyama. "You can scream all you want Haruhi but your friends won't find you." He said.

She looked at the guards who were looking at her, as they shook their heads. She then looked frantically around the room and again at the blinding light. Sweat began to pour down her face from the light, causing her to shake her head. She tried screaming again, this time for Makoto, Kyon and Yuki... Nothing. Her throat was becoming dry and she was breathing hard. She was about to scream once more when the machine turned on with a loud deep humming noise, drowning out any ability to scream out. She looked forward and through the light, she saw the room above behind the window in the observation area. Hatoyama, the woman and the girl were staring at her as the assistant was attending to something to the side. Haruhi sat there in desperation as she awaited the dangerous procedure. She never thought her life would end like this.

Just as the humming noise was beginning to get louder and before the assistant in the control room typed in a code to begin the procedure, an explosion occurred at the doors back into the corridor, shaking the room and surprising the guards near the machine, as they had to conceal their faces from the blinding bright light. The explosion shocked Haruhi, causing her to yelp as she looked towards the explosion.

"What the hell was that?" the assistant at the controls yelled as he looked towards the direction of the doors. Although the entrance was about 75 feet away, he along with Hatoyama had to cover their eyes as the blinding light lasted for about ten seconds. The intensity of the light could have immobilized Masako and Kamiko, but they were far away from the explosion as they stood there while looking towards the entrance.

As the guards ran forward towards the damaged doors, they suddenly stopped in their tracks and were about to grab their sidearm weapons when something hit them, and they fell to the floor. A closer look revealed the reason why they fell. A man and a younger man ran forward into the lab guns drawn as a girl followed behind them. The man had fired a shotgun at one of the guards while the young man shot the other guard with the laser ray weapon. Hatoyama's face switched to disappointment when he saw those three people coming into the lab, the same ones his men were supposed to eliminate. _Not again_, he thought. It was Makoto, Kyon and Yuki. Hatoyama turned to face Masako and Kamiko, as they turned to face him. "Get rid of them, but keep that boy alive. I have something for him." Hatoyama said. They nodded and went towards the stairs to stop them.

Haruhi was ecstatic as she saw Makoto, Kyon and Yuki approach the machine. She yelled for them to help her. They saw Haruhi strapped to the very large machine, which was almost the size of the room. Without hesitation, Kyon raced forward to reach Haruhi as Makoto and Yuki followed him. He was ahead of them and about 60 feet from the machine when he felt something flew by him hitting his right shoulder, as the force of the object spun him around towards Makoto and Yuki. He saw shoulder length hair in light auburn and someone in a school uniform with a jacket strike Yuki head on, sending Yuki and the girl back about 10 feet towards the entryway.

"Nagato!" Kyon yelled.

The sudden appearance of the young girl attacking Yuki caught Makoto off guard. He glanced back at the machine Haruhi was on as she was screaming for help. "Kyon! Get Haruhi! I'll help Yuki!" he yelled. He got the tool bag off his shoulder, threw it to Kyon and told him to hold on to it.

Kyon turned around and raced towards Haruhi and the machine. As Makoto was about to help Yuki from her attacker, he felt a strong force push him from behind, sending him forward until he almost fell on the ground. Correcting his footing, he turned around just to see a woman in black from where he was standing about five feet back. She had blonde hair and an angry look on her face. Figuring that this person was a threat, Makoto aimed the shotgun towards her, but the woman was in front of him in an instant and grabbed the gun out of his hand before throwing it to the side while having a tight grip on his left wrist. She rapidly placed her right hand on his throat, shoving him back again as he hit the ground and slid about four feet. Makoto realized that this woman was definitely not a human, and had to be a humanoid. Almost going for his EMP or laser gun, he changed his mind and quickly got back up to defend himself with hand-in-hand combat as the woman approached him.

Yuki had managed to force the other girl off her and got on her feet. She analyzed her attacker—_Kamiko Maruyama_—and found out that Kamiko was an advanced humanoid interface that was more powerful than she was. She gained knowledge of her earlier mission regarding Haruhi Suzumiya, along with Hatoyama's command for Kamiko to eliminate her, Makoto and Kyon. Because she was not strong as Kamiko, and the existing danger of herself, Haruhi, Kyon and Makoto, Yuki had to find a way to terminate her, but there was no data jurisdiction present in order to do so.

"You cannot defeat me Yuki Nagato," Kamiko said, "Without a data jurisdiction, you will not be able to commence invalidation of my data links. But I can do this..."

As Yuki was not expecting it, Kamiko quickly launched forward and grabbed Yuki's arms. Something within Kamiko caused Yuki to exhibit faults within her arms, as Yuki tried to grab her hands off her but could not. After holding on her arms for five seconds, Kamiko pushed Yuki forward and let her go as she fell to the ground on her back. Yuki was experiencing what a human could feel as severe pain in her arms, rendering her from moving or using her hands. Whatever Kamiko had also affected her ability to stand, causing her to fall backwards once Kamiko let go of her. The systems within her were having difficulty repairing the faults.

"You see, I have a higher advantage than you. I know the actions you will take in advance. You will not succeed against me. You will suffer extensive damage once this is over."

Yuki looked at Kamiko. The systems within Yuki had managed to restore her legs and her arms to some extent. She would have to fight harder against Kamiko, particularly in hand-in-hand combat.

As Masako and Kamiko fought against Makoto and Yuki, Kyon reached the machine and the barely audible cries coming from Haruhi. The loud deep humming noise almost drowned out any ability for Kyon to hear what Haruhi was saying. He saw the machine in its operational mode, as the large rod attached to the opposite end was rotating and the other rod or needle-like devices appeared to come closer.

Kyon got closer to Haruhi's face in order to hear her. He was shocked at how Haruhi was strapped to the seat. He put the tool bag by the base of the machine and got close to Haruhi.

"Haruhi!" Kyon said

"Kyon! Get me off this thing! Hurry!" Haruhi yelled.

The shackles and straps that were holding Haruhi to the seat came from within the chair she was sitting on, and because of their durability, no one could breach them to get the person out of the chair. Frustrated, he ran over to the computer screen to see if there was anything on the screen to stop the machine but could not find anything. His only option was to get Nagato over here to do something to get Haruhi off this thing. He turned around towards Nagato and her attacker when he saw Nagato in a kung-fu stance against the other girl. She was fighting against the girl using several sidekicks while the other girl blocked every one of them and managed to catch her foot, sending Nagato in a spin as she hit the ground. A quick glance towards Makoto showed him shoving his foot into his opponent's chest, pushing the woman backwards as she came forward with a fist to his face that almost hit him.

"Nagato!" Kyon yelled.

Yuki must have known what Kyon wanted as she rapidly approached him to get away from her attacker. Before he could turn around to face the screen, the other girl rapidly approached him first before Yuki, as she spun him around and pushed him in the path of Yuki. The collision between Kyon and Yuki was intense as Kyon ricocheted off Yuki and hit the ground on his back; the gun in his hand flew backwards and hit the ground five feet away. Crashing head on into Kyon made Yuki disoriented, allowing her opponent to advance forward with her own fist and strike Yuki in the face.

"Kyon! Yuki!" Haruhi yelled, as the large machine nearly drowned out her voice. She tried to yell for Makoto but he was still in a struggle with the woman until she saw her kick Makoto in the leg, followed by a right jab to his face.

The noise of the large machine grew louder as the spinning rod looked as though it was getting closer but very slowly. Haruhi tried to force her hands and feet though the shackles to get out and help but they were very tight, causing her to yell in pain. She yelled for Kyon again, as he was still on the floor while recovering to get up.

In the observation room, Hatoyama was hovering over his assistant as he was looking at several computer screens on the status of the machine. Still in its initial stages of operation, the procedure would start momentary as the microchip was completed. The rod was slowly approaching the point where it would rest on Haruhi's head, before another device within the rod would insert the chip. Hatoyama would worry about completing his experiment later, but wanted this step to go successful.

"With systems in the clear, she will become a humanoid in the next few minutes." His assistant said.

Upon hearing that, Hatoyama switched to the view occurring outside in the lab down below. Makoto and Masako, and Yuki and Kamiko were still fighting, Kyon recovered from slamming into Yuki and was back at the machine trying anything to shut the machine off, and Haruhi was still trying to squirm out of the chair in order to get free while screaming at him to get her out. Unknown to Kyon and Haruhi, once someone began experiments within the observation area, there was no way to suspend the process in the lab outside, but only in the observation room unless action was necessary to stop the machine. With the fighting scene occurring down below, Hatoyama wanted Masako and Kamiko to get rid of Makoto and Yuki now.

He grabbed the microphone by the wall and pushed a button to tell them enough was enough. "Masako! Kamiko! Get rid of them now! That's an order!"

Kamiko had picked up Hatoyama's voice on the intercom and his command to get rid of Yuki. She had gotten Yuki on the ground after carrying her through the air after Yuki tried to do the same thing but failed. With Yuki on the ground, she tried to confront Kamiko but Kamiko had her hands on her shoulders. The same effect Yuki experienced earlier when Kamiko caused faults to occur in her arms occurred again, this time more powerful as systems within Yuki were reporting extensive faults, causing her to shake. Yuki tried to get her hands off her shoulders but could not as she malfunctioned and fell to the ground on her knees with her eyes fairly open. With Yuki disabled, Kamiko grabbed Yuki by the arms of her coat to pick her up and struck Yuki in the chest with the palm of her right hand. If a human had felt how hard Kamiko hit Yuki in the chest, it was as if someone shoved a large concrete brick at a person's chest at over eighty kilometers an hour.

From Haruhi's perspective, she was horrified after Kamiko disabled Yuki, but lost it when she saw Yuki fly in the air until she struck the top of an angled ceiling about 15 feet in the air. The sound of her body hitting the ceiling resembled a bone crushing sound, as she then fell back down and hit the ground with a loud thud. Upon hitting the floor, Yuki did not move.

Kyon had turned around after trying to get Haruhi out of the chair when he saw Yuki hitting the ground after hearing the loud bone crushing sound. Kyon's eyes widened and his face went ashen as he saw Yuki on the floor not moving. He observed the girl standing 30 feet away from Yuki, and a closer look at the ceiling above where Yuki landed revealed damage where she made impact before falling to the ground. Kyon felt his heart sank and his ears pop when Haruhi screamed out towards Yuki in horror.

Makoto had his opponent on the ground after kicking her in her left knee and was about to strike her in the chest when Haruhi screamed, as he saw Yuki on the floor. He could see the girl standing at a distance near Yuki, as Yuki was motionless on the floor. He recalled hearing Hatoyama scream for Masako and Kamiko to get rid of them earlier while fighting, and a moment later, he could hear Haruhi screaming though the loud noise of the machine. The quick second distraction would prove fatal for Makoto when he looked back at his opponent and noticed she was gone. Instead, Masako surprised him when he looked left and saw her close to him. He tried to grab at her again but missed as Masako got behind him and put her left hand on his chest and her right hand on his back. What happened next caught Makoto off guard as he felt an intensifying electric shock through his chest. He tried to get Masako's hands off him, but she squeezed tighter as the intensity in his chest got stronger and continued throughout his body, causing him to shake until she let go and he fell to the ground on his back. As he hit the ground, he was breathing hard and could feel a disturbance in his normal heart rhythm, as he clutched his chest with his right hand and tried to grasp for air. The look on Makoto's face changed to anger as he saw Masako hover over him with that same angry look. If only his watch had that stun gun power, he could have disabled this woman in an instant, but she got the upper hand on him instead.

After seeing Yuki on the floor immobile, Kyon turned just to see the woman in black with her hands on Makoto's chest and back. Makoto was shaking until she let him go, causing Makoto to fall to the ground. He hit the ground and began breathing hard while clutching his chest. Kyon noticed that the woman had done something to him to cause severe pain. Haruhi also noticed the sight of Makoto in despair on the floor and screamed towards him.

Enraged, Kyon tried to aim the assault rifle at the woman when he felt the gun escape from his hands. He looked right and saw the young girl in the school uniform in front of him, as the gun she snatched out of his hands slid in a diagonal path towards Yuki. Before he could react, Kamiko managed to snatch the other assault rifle off his back, ripping the strap around Kyon, and sent it sailing towards the far back corner. She got in front of him and clutched her hands on his throat, almost causing Kyon to choke. He tried to get her hands off him but could not. From his observation, she was about Haruhi's height and her face almost resembled the same disappointing face Haruhi made when she became irritated.

"_Kamiko, that's enough!"_ a voice bellowed behind Kamiko.

Kyon tried to see past Kamiko's head until she let him go and he fell on his knees gasping for air. He looked up and saw a man about Makoto's height standing by the doorway of a room. He was dressed in a gakuran and had black razored hair. He remembered that hairstyle when looking at that photo earlier in the document regarding Tamotsu Hatoyama.

The rod on the machine was about 20 feet from Haruhi's head as the man walked slowly towards Kyon and the girl in the school outfit. Once he had got to the girl, there was a high whining sound and Haruhi became worried until the rod stopped spinning and the deep loud humming noise got lower. Hatoyama's attention turned to the machine after the noises got lower and the rod stopped spinning. Back in the observation center, the assistant was stunned when the machine mysteriously started to show failures in several systems. He quickly tried to diagnose the problem but through several screens and alarms, none of them explained what the error was. He jumped out of his seat and ran to the microphone to tell Hatoyama.

"Hatoyama-san. The machine is experiencing several faults," the assistant said, "I am trying to diagnose the issue."

_Dammit,_ Hatoyama thought. He turned to face the man in the room as the assistant shrugged his shoulders. "Well find the problem!" Hatoyama yelled. In the past, the machine rarely experienced problems during experiments. He glanced at Haruhi, then Kyon, and finally where Yuki and Makoto were on the ground. He did not think Haruhi could be the cause of the machine failing, unless Yuki had done something before she hit the ceiling. He took a closer look at Yuki's body and saw that her eyes were fairly open. Kamiko may have disabled her, but she did not cease Yuki's functioning abilities. Irritated because of the machine exhibiting a malfunction, he turned his attention to the boy in front of him.

"Well. You must be Kyon." Hatoyama said as he approached him, causing Kyon to move back.

Kyon maintained a look of frustration. He wanted to fight this man for what he did to Yuki, and for shackling Haruhi to the machine for his unexplained experiment, but with the girl standing near him, he probably would not have the chance to attack him.

Hatoyama looked at Haruhi again, then at Kyon and laughed. Back at the entrance, several armed guards from the infantry had entered through the hole heavily armed and blocked off the door. As Kyon saw the heavy presence of infantry enter the lab, Hatoyama moved forward and grabbed the back of Kyon's collar. Kyon tried to fight Hatoyama off him as he dragged Kyon about 10 away from the machine and forced him to his knees. Haruhi screamed at Hatoyama to let Kyon go but he yelled for her to shut up. "Kamiko, go back to Yuki," Hatoyama said, "I don't think you disabled her."

Kamiko walked to where Yuki's body was on the ground and hovered over her while looking back towards Hatoyama.

"Now do you see what you have gotten yourselves into?" Hatoyama shouted, "Look at your friends. You guys thought you could come in here and get one stupid girl? Now look where it got you. This will be the last time you and Haruhi will ever see them again."

Kyon looked up and saw Nagato immobile on the floor as the girl stood over her and Makoto looking towards them in despair. Kyon's determination began to fade away as he was having thoughts of their impending doom. By the end of this day in this strange dimension, Hatoyama would have his revenge on all of them. Whatever Hatoyama was doing to Haruhi, he thought Hatoyama would do the same thing to him, or kill him in unthinkable ways. He looked at the floor in disbelief.

As Hatoyama was holding Kyon by the collar, Haruhi thought she heard a faint clicking sound through the light humming noise of the machine. It was the same sound she heard when the guards had shackled her to the chair. Back in the observation room, the assistant had his attention to several screens while trying to find the source of the problem within the machine. A computer screen opposite of the assistant showing information on the chair had originally yelled for faults within, but now indicated that the shackles to the chair were disabled. At the machine, Haruhi moved her right hand slightly and noticed she could free her hand. She looked cautiously at the girl in uniform, the woman in black and the guards at the front, and saw that their attention was towards Hatoyama. She got her hand off the shackle quietly, then her other hand and feet before secretly getting the straps off her chest and lower abdomen.

"Yuki may have had powers to defend herself, but these humanoid interfaces are more powerful than her," Hatoyama said, "Now Makoto can't defend himself because that humanoid interface crippled him. You've lost the battle Kyon, just like Makoto lost his ability to save your friend. I was expecting to have fun with Haruhi but now that you're here, both of you will be victims of your own tragedy." He yelled towards Masako and Kamiko to finish off Makoto and Yuki.

Haruhi had become very angry. With all her shackles and straps loose, she forced herself off the machine and ran towards Hatoyama. Before Masako and Kamiko approached their targets, they stopped as they saw the girl run towards Hatoyama. Before they could alert him and before he could turn around, Haruhi had managed to jump on his back and wrap her arms around his throat while struggling to choke him. Jumping on him caused Hatoyama to move forward, letting go of Kyon's collar. Kyon moved forward and turned around just to see Haruhi on his back. The guards by the door—mostly human and a few humanoids—were transfixed at the petite girl on their boss's back.

"What the...!" Hatoyama said. He felt someone trying to yank his neck. A quick glance at the chair indicated that Haruhi had managed to break free and was now on his back trying to choke him.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!" Haruhi screamed.

Kyon charged forward and tried to punch him, but Hatoyama caught his fist and kicked Kyon in his left shin, causing him to fall down to his knee. With Haruhi still on his back and before Kyon could get back up, Hatoyama gave him a hard backhanded slap to his face, causing him to hit the ground completely. Kyon could only look up as Hatoyama was trying to get Haruhi off his back.

Makoto's normal heart rhythm restored quickly but he could still feel a severe pain in his chest, as he was astonished at the scene unfolding as Kyon and Haruhi tried to take their revenge on Hatoyama. Masako was still standing there over him as she watched the scene. Makoto had thought she and the other girl—Kamiko—would interfere but they were transfixed just like the guards.

In the struggle, Hatoyama had managed to grab one of Haruhi's wrists and twisted it, causing her to yell in pain and fall off him. Kyon saw Haruhi fall off as she grabbed her sprained wrist with a look of desperation and anger as Hatoyama turned around to confront her. When she faced Hatoyama, her look changed as her eyes widened and her face became ashen. That's when Kyon noticed that Hatoyama had his right hand extended in the air. His hand came down rapidly at a downward steep angle towards Haruhi. Following that was the sound of a crackling noise followed by a yell, as his hand was by his waist as Haruhi went down to the ground hard. There was utter silence after Haruhi hit the ground, as her hair covered her face and she had her hand covering the front of her face.

Makoto, who was on the ground saw the whole ordeal. After Hatoyama backhanded Kyon to the ground, he turned around with his right hand extended in the air. He saw Haruhi's face turn ashen before he swung his hand. His hand made contact with Haruhi's face, which caused her to yell out before she hit the ground. He gasped as his eyes widened. Once Haruhi hit the floor face first, she did not move but to cover her hand over her face. Clearly, Hatoyama had no respect for what he did, but the sight of him _slapping_ Haruhi in the face angered him. Makoto was about to reach for his EMP gun as Masako stood over him distracted at observing Hatoyama. Before he could grab the gun, he could pick up the sound of a distant rumbling noise.

Hatoyama turned around to face Masako and Kamiko again and yelled for them to finish Makoto and Yuki off. As Makoto was on the ground, the distant rumbling noise grew louder and louder, until he could feel the floor vibrating lightly. He had his hand near his chest but he could quickly reach for either gun appropriate to Masako and Kamiko, or Hatoyama. Before Masako and Kamiko could move, the rumbling noise got louder like the sound of thunder as the floor began to shake. There was a mild jolt and another, as they intensified while the floor shook. The guards at the front tried to stand still as a few of them fell down while trying to stand up. Masako and Kamiko appeared confused at what was going on and Hatoyama was having a hard time standing up himself. For a moment, he thought that the machine had malfunctioned to a point that it would actually explode. The assistant in the observation room who lost track of what was occurring down below in the lab tried to stay still but a violent jolt sent him out of his seat, as his head collided with the edge of a counter, knocking him out as he hit the floor. Makoto took a glance towards Kyon and Haruhi and saw Kyon stare at the ceiling while Haruhi continued to cover her face with her hand. They were all experiencing a strong earthquake, but this was beyond strong limits.

Outside, the intensity of the earthquake got worse as people throughout the city tried to find shelter from falling debris and shattered glass. The cars that were on the highway in front of the main entrance to the Entity were thrown around, as many motorists lost control of their vehicles and crashed into each other or into the walls along the highway. The bridge that took pedestrians across the highway shook violently until the end opposite from the front of the building crumbled before it fell entirely onto the highway. Across the city, several buildings and highway bridges collapsed, trapping those inside as some ran out of buildings only to encounter falling debris and broken glass. Well-designed buildings meant to withstand an earthquake, even those considered as "earthquake resistant" were no match for this tremor, as several of them also collapsed, including very tall office and residential buildings.

The skyscrapers that cowered behind the Entity swayed dangerously in the earthquake. However, the shaking of the ground seemed to last for a very long time. The shaking became too much for several skyscrapers across the city as some crippled at their foundations and toppled into other buildings, bring them down to the ground. Some did not crumble at the foundation, but caved inward at their roofs like a collapsing deck of cards. One of the high-rise skyscrapers that was behind the Entity—a 140-story building—swayed dangerously to the point that the upper floors actually broke off its structure and fell towards the ground as the remaining skyscraper collapsed, following the path of the upper floors down to the ground. With no other skyscraper to crash into, the structure headed towards the roof of the 12-story rectangular cubed building housing the Data Integration Thought Entity.

Back in the lab, the machine with its humming noise continued throughout the shaking. The window in the observation area shattered inward while parts of the ceiling began to buckle and fell to the ground. A large chunk of concrete fell near the entrance and another at the observation area, blocking off the entrance into the small, elevated room. The shaking had gotten so violent that it was impossible to stand. Those standing fell to the ground as the earthquake moved them forward and backwards in a sideways motion as they slid on the floor. While the guards were trying to stay put near the entrance, Hatoyama fell to the ground but used his hands and feet as an anchor to stay put. Kamiko and Masako stooped down to the floor to stand still. Those who were on the floor were not as lucky as the intense shaking moved them in different directions. Makoto was originally near a wall but ended up about 35 feet away from it in the middle of the lab while Yuki slided a few feet to her left from her position towards the large machine. Haruhi had slightly recovered from Hatoyama's assault and ended up against the machine while the shaking forced Kyon towards the machine next to Haruhi. Haruhi was not only staring at him in disbelief, but Kyon noticed that her nose was bleeding. Concerned, he crawled forward to cover her from any debris that would fall on them.

Kyon was hoping the earthquake would end since it felt like it would last forever when he heard a strong explosion so loud, it shook the floor violently and nearly blew his eardrums. The impact had made Kyon and Haruhi, and everyone else in the lab rise about a foot in the air. The upper floors of the skyscraper outside struck the top of the building, piercing through nearly all 12 floors of the southeast end and stopping at the lower level of the Manufacturing floor. While Hatoyama's lab was away from the impact zone along the northwestern wall, the impact damaged the security offices on the twelfth floor all the way to the lab that Makoto set the bomb behind a closet on the seventh floor. What the upper floors of the skyscraper damaged was several offices, the lab that had the time warp devices, residential areas and a part of the mall at the ground level, including Hatoyama's office on the eleventh floor. The power in the room went dark, as the generators kicked on, lighting the room in a dark and dimmed light. The humming noise from the machine stopped once the power went out, rendering it non-functional.

After that loud explosion followed another as the remaining half of the skyscraper struck the top floor, but the building wrapped around the Entity and the highway outside. The impact made the floor inside shake more violently than earlier, as the ceiling of the entire interrogation area on the twelfth floor collapsed, and crushed several office rooms on the eleventh floor. As pieces of both buildings rested against the destroyed eleventh floor, parts of the ceiling in the laboratory were beginning to crumble due to the heavy weight. Because the guards were now trying to find their way out of the lab to assist in getting people out of the Entity, and Hatoyama, Masako and Kamiko were still waiting for the earthquake to end, it gave Makoto the chance to reach in his coat for the EMP gun. He pulled it out and pointed it towards Masako, who was behind him still stooped to the ground. Masako never saw Makoto pull the weapon until the last second and when he fired it, the force of the energy waves sent her backwards away from Makoto and she hit the wall before landing on the ground. He quickly focused his attention on the girl near Yuki and again fired, as the invisible lasers stuck home, sending the girl down to the ground in an instant. After shooting the girl, a section of the ceiling collapsed from the pressure above, and nearly hit Makoto but missed him by two feet, blocking his view of Hatoyama, Kyon and Haruhi.

As the shaking began to cease, Hatoyama could not believe the scene in front of him as he saw Makoto shoot his wife, sending her into a wall before she hit the ground, and shot Kamiko who collapsed in an instant. A section of the ceiling fell towards Makoto, and he thought that the large chunk had crushed him, as it blocked his view of Makoto. He quickly got a glance of Kamiko, as she was not moving, and turned to face Masako, who started to move in order to get back up. Before Masako could get on her feet, there was a sound of crackling above her and she looked up as a large section of the ceiling broke off and fell towards her. She could not move out of the way in time and raised her hands up just as the large section struck the ground, crushing her and disabling her instantly.

Kamiko tried to come back to life but during the shaking, Yuki had managed to restore herself but only enough to stop Kamiko. Before Kamiko could get up, Yuki got behind her and bit her in the neck to inject nanomachines to disrupt any ability to function further. Kamiko tried to stop Yuki by turning around and threw her hands on Yuki's neck in order to send another electromagnetic shock but the nanomachines had immediately taken full control of her body, corrupting systems within, and her hands fell to the ground and her eyes closed as she became immobile. Yuki hovered over her to make sure she would cease functioning. Noticing that Kamiko would not get back up, she managed to crawl a few feet away from her before she collapsed on the floor. Her systems were still in the process of a full recovery mode but it was taking a while. As she lied on the floor, the shaking finally came to an end and the devastation of the room would quickly sink in to Hatoyama, Kyon, and Haruhi.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: A True Savior **

Through the partly lit room, the earthquake was over. Pieces of the ceiling, shattered glass and fragments were scattered throughout the lab. A light on the wall by the doors was flashing yellow, indicating the alarm to evacuate or to shelter in place. Kyon and Haruhi emerged from their area next to the machine and saw the destruction around them. During the earthquake, the structure holding the rod and needle-like devices collapsed onto the floor, as it broke into several pieces. The path towards the doors was very dark with exception to the flashing yellow light near the door. As Haruhi looked at Kyon, she noticed how small fragments from the ceiling and glass from the observation area window covered his entire back and the top of his head.

"Are you okay Haruhi?" Kyon asked. He had his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her. Pieces of fragments were stuck to the back of her jacket and her hair was a matted mess. Her nose had stopped bleeding, but there was a bloodstain from her nostril.

She put her hands on his arms as she looked at him. Both of them shared the same shocked look. "Yes. I-I'm okay." Haruhi said softly. She looked around the room again and saw the damage around them. She could not see Makoto, but saw Yuki on the floor nearby. Haruhi then noticed the man sitting a distance from them as it looked like he was immobile.

Hatoyama was sitting there on the ground shocked at the scene in front of him. Through the dimmed room, he pinpointed where Masako, Makoto, Kamiko and Yuki were on the floor. Masako was under the large section of the ceiling that had fallen on her, the section of ceiling had crushed Makoto or he had died from his injuries, Kamiko was on the floor and not moving after Yuki's sudden attack and Yuki was on the floor near Kamiko. It was over. His wife was dead, her work in creating a stronger humanoid interface ruined, and everything Hatoyama had worked for and put much effort into was gone. As he got up and looked at the carnage around him, he turned to his left and observed the damage to the human converter machine. He could not tell if the assistant that was still in that elevated room was alive or not, but noticed that at the base of the machine, he saw Kyon and Haruhi on the ground holding one another as they noticed him standing before them. The sight of them holding one another made Hatoyama angry.

"You... bitch." Hatoyama yelled towards Haruhi.

Haruhi gasped at his remark but her eyes widened when he reached into his coat and grabbed a weapon. The weapon resembled a handgun similar to the one that princess in _Star Wars_ had. He knew she was capable of creating and destroying what she wanted when she wanted, and with both of them standing there before him, it was time to take alternative action since he could not change her into a humanoid interface. There was one option left for Hatoyama to do something to Haruhi, and it was a deadly one.

Kyon's state of shock turned immediately to anger when he saw the gun. It occurred to him that despite the past few hours of breaching the Entity, and then the destruction of the Entity, this man would not give up without getting what he wanted. Since he was angry towards Haruhi, he wanted to take his revenge on her. As Hatoyama was approaching, Kyon immediately got up and charged towards Hatoyama to stop him. Thinking they were dead already, Kyon tried to get the gun away from Hatoyama but before he could reach him, Hatoyama had the gun in his hand raised in the air and pistol-whipped Kyon, hitting him in the head.

"Kyon!" Haruhi screamed.

The impact sent Kyon to the ground as he tried to cover his head where Hatoyama hit him. Kyon experienced severe pain in his head and became dizzy as he tried to get back up but Hatoyama pointed the gun at him to prevent him from moving.

"Look at what you've done Haruhi." Hatoyama said in a drastic tone.

Haruhi looked at Hatoyama with fear. She glanced towards Kyon and saw how he was scared.

He turned to face her. "You did _all_ of this Haruhi!" he yelled as his tone got louder. "Do you really think this is over, huh? Where's your friend now Haruhi? Makoto's not here to save you. And I won't let this boy save you either."

"Don't you dare—" Kyon began before Hatoyama interrupted him.

"Don't I dare _what_?" Hatoyama yelled at Kyon, "Hurt Haruhi? You think I'll hurt Haruhi? No. I won't just hurt her Kyon... I'll put her out of her misery." He walked towards Haruhi with the gun in his hand.

Hatoyama had lost it. He had lost everything and was blaming Haruhi for it. Feeling revenge, he wanted to kill Haruhi. Matter of fact, he was _going_ to kill Haruhi and that was that. Kyon went to get up but Hatoyama pointed the gun at him again, scaring Kyon into falling back to the ground.

"I told her you wouldn't get out of here alive Kyon," Hatoyama said, "But since she's taken everything away from me, I'll take away everything away from you, and that starts with _you_." He turned to face Haruhi and pointed the gun in her direction. Haruhi tried to move back but the structure was behind her. Her face became ashen again and her eyes widened as she stared at the gun in fright. Hatoyama got closer as Haruhi began shaking. "It's over for you Haruhi Suzumiya."

Haruhi could have defended herself against this man but thought Hatoyama would kill her if she moved. Instead, she closed her eyes, clenched her fists and awaited her doom. He would kill her, and eventually kill Kyon.

Before Hatoyama could shoot and as Kyon tried to stop him, something struck Hatoyama in the back hard. Kyon did not get a chance to stop Hatoyama, as a white light shot by that hit Hatoyama in the back, sending Kyon back to the floor. Hatoyama gasped loudly, causing Haruhi to yell and open her eyes. For a moment, there was silence and Haruhi realized that Hatoyama didn't shoot her. A closer look at Hatoyama indicated tightness in his face as he stumbled forward. He stumbled another foot forward and began to lean to his side as he grabbed his chest with his left hand. The gun that was in his right hand fell to the floor, and he fell on his knees while still clutching his chest. Someone had shot him in the heart through the back, and as he turned around, his face showed disgust. Kyon looked in the direction where the laser came from and was stunned at the man standing nearby.

Makoto was standing a distance behind Hatoyama with the laser gun pointed at him. He was leaning over to his side as well. As Hatoyama tried to move in an effort to collect his gun, Makoto did not hesitate to fire at him again, striking him in the back below the neck. Hatoyama went down to the ground hard. He lied there on the ground as his breathing slowed and everything around him slowly went dark. As the last breath left his body, he was dead. Makoto lowered his weapon and took in the sight of Hatoyama's body on the ground.

Haruhi was breathing hard when she saw Hatoyama in front of her immobile and then saw Makoto a distance behind him. She thought he had died when Masako attacked him and tried to speak but could not get any words out of her mouth. However, as she looked closer, she could tell that Makoto's face was showing strain, and before she could say his name, he clutched his chest before falling to his knees and fell to the ground on his back.

Kyon quickly got up and ran over to Haruhi to help her up. Before reaching Haruhi, he kicked the gun far away from Hatoyama's body. She was weak in the knees from Hatoyama pointing a gun at her but clung onto Kyon to stand up. She stared at the dead man in front of her with anger but sighed.

"Come on Haruhi." Kyon said, trying to get Haruhi away from looking at Hatoyama.

They stumbled towards Makoto and got on the floor to check on him. He had his left hand over his chest while breathing hard and started choking. Haruhi felt that something was wrong as his cough sounded worse. Kyon left Haruhi with Makoto to get Yuki.

"Makoto... Makoto are you all right?" Haruhi asked in concern.

Makoto sighed. "Not really Haruhi. It looks like Masako got me good. I don't think I'll make it. *cough* But I have to admit, you did good Haruhi. You did really good."

Haruhi was confused. "W-What do you mean?"

"That earthquake just didn't come out of the blue now did it?"

Haruhi did not think she was capable of causing that earthquake. She actually thought it was a coincidence. Makoto tried to explain as he put his hand on her face where Hatoyama had slapped her. "I said you had powers Haruhi. I think they were triggered when that son of a bitch slapped you or maybe when *cough* you saw what Masako and that other girl did to me and Yuki." He sighed. "I wasn't expecting this to happen, especially to you."

Haruhi shook her head. She could feel pain in her face from Hatoyama's assault, but took it in stride and stood there as Kyon brought Yuki over.

Kyon sat Yuki on the ground by Makoto's feet and attended to him on the side opposite of Haruhi. Yuki was lying on the floor while leaning forward on her hands as she looked at Makoto. Pieces of fragments covered her clothing and her lavender hair was all over the place.

"How are you doing Yuki?" Makoto asked in stress.

"I'm slowly recovering." She responded. She looked closely at how Makoto was holding his chest with his hands. She knew he was hurt badly. "You're gravely injured."

Makoto tried to laugh. He did not want to hear that. "*cough* Yeah, I know *cough*."

"How bad is it?" Kyon asked concerned.

"Really bad... I think I'm dying." Makoto said. He could feel his heart rhythm beat slower, indicating he was in the stages of a heart attack.

Kyon and Haruhi gasped. "Is there anything we can do to help you?" Kyon asked.

"No, Kyon. I want you guys to get out of here." Makoto said, and then took a moment to tell him their new plan. "This is what's going to happen. Kyon, I want you to get Haruhi *cough*, and Yuki *cough*, and get the hell out of here. Don't worry about me. The main focus is that... you three need to get out of this dimension and get back to your time period. Here..." Makoto went into his coat pocket and took out a small sheet of paper. "Here is a sheet. With those time warp devices in that bag, use this sheet that will get you back to your dimension."

Kyon took a quick second to look at the sheet of paper before putting it in his coat pocket.

Makoto continued. "Everything is set, all you have to do is input what's on that sheet into any of those devices and you'll get back to your time period safely. Don't worry about the bomb, I'll take care of it."

That reminded Kyon and Haruhi about the bomb. It had been almost two in a half hours since Makoto had set the bomb. Kyon thought that if they did not continue the plan to blow up the Entity, they would find a way to get back at him, Haruhi and especially Yuki when they got back.

"But Makoto, what about you?" Haruhi asked, "You can't just stay here."

"I have to Haruhi. There's no other choice."

"But what about that bomb Makoto?" Kyon asked, "How are we going to detonate it?"

Makoto sighed again. He reached for the remote inside his coat that sent signals to the bomb. He pushed a button on the side of the remote and noticed a flashing green light, indicating that despite the bomb was deep inside the rubble, it could still receive a signal. He pressed another button and after a few computer beeps, he set the timer on the remote for twenty minutes before pressing another button that finalized the process, as the timer began its countdown. Kyon and Haruhi saw the timer in its countdown mode as Makoto calmly announced how the bomb would now detonate.

"'We' won't detonate it Kyon. _I'll_ detonate it."

Manual detonation.

Kyon and Haruhi looked at Makoto and were shocked at his intentions. Makoto stated that they had nineteen minutes to find an enclosed area and get out of there. He gave them that much time in case it would take them longer to find an area since the earthquake and skyscraper that crashed into the building destroyed the Entity. He leaned over and took off his watch and handed it to Kyon along with his laser and EMP gun, and told them to take the tool bag that contained the devices and the ΛETO folder regarding Yuki with them. Kyon ran over to get the bag, placed Makoto's guns and watch inside the bag, and threw the tool bag around his shoulder before running back to Makoto, Haruhi and Yuki.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I have to make sure that bomb will detonate, or this will never be over." Makoto said, as he started coughing again. His coughing started sounding worse as it made Haruhi concerned. Kyon was astonished at Makoto's intentions but understood the situation. Haruhi on the other hand could not take the news.

"But Makoto, we can't just leave you here," she said as a tear went down her face, "There's something we can do. We can get you help."

"Haruhi," Makoto began, "You've done everything... no… _we've_ done everything we can. *cough* I have to do this. This is my decision. Now I want you to go. You have to go."

"Then I'm not leaving you alone, Makoto!" She yelled as she started crying, "You hear me, I don't want to leave you here. You can't just... die here." She grabbed onto him as she put her face in his chest.

Makoto thought he could hear the distant rumbling noise again. He could not take the sight of Haruhi crying over him as she hugged him tight, not after she had proven to him that she was a headstrong girl. Kyon and Yuki looked at Haruhi in amazement. From Kyon and Yuki's perspective, this was their first time of Haruhi having a severe break down. Makoto had to stop her from becoming emotional.

"Goddamn it Haruhi, will you listen to me!" Makoto demanded. Haruhi looked at him with a sorrow face flooded with tears. "You have to go Haruhi. You're too damn important in your time period. There is so much more that you have to learn and understand, and enjoy your life while you have a chance. Without you, a world doesn't exist. And in that world, you have a lot more to explore and discover and have fun. Don't ever think your life is boring. That's why you have your friends for. That's why aliens, time travelers and espers _do_ exist. And then you have Kyon here. Don't make his life anymore miserable than it already is. Give him the benefit of the doubt Haruhi. *cough* Just give him a chance."

He started coughing again, making Haruhi worry he would die right there. After he stopped, he put his right hand on her face again to wipe off a tear on her left cheek. She touched his hand as she let him touch her face. He managed to make a smile as he told her one more thing so she would get out of there. "I'll see you on the other side, kid."

Haruhi blinked. He had said something that made Haruhi think he had made another challenge against her, that when they got back to their time period, Makoto would be there. She grasped his hand that was still on her face and leaned forward towards him. She wanted to make sure he would mean what he had said.

"Promise me you'll see me again. _Promise me!_" Haruhi demanded while clutching his hand in hers.

Makoto coughed once more and then said, "You have my word Haruhi. Now go. Don't stay here any longer, just go!"

Kyon got up and placed the tool bag around his shoulder as he ran over to Haruhi to help her off the floor. She used the arm of her coat to wipe away her tears as Kyon helped her up. She did not want to leave him here but she understood his intentions for why he would stay. After getting her to stand up, Kyon and Haruhi ran over to Yuki to help her stand. Because of the impact against the ceiling, Yuki could barely walk. They took one last look at Makoto and said goodbye before walking quickly towards the door. Haruhi took a moment to look back at Makoto before they went through the hole in the door and on their way to wherever they could find a suitable area to get out of the dimension.

Makoto turned to stare up at the ceiling and looked at the remote of the bomb to see how much time they had. 16 minutes left. He hoped that Kyon could get Haruhi and Yuki out of there. Feeling the weakness in his heart as he was slowly dying, he tried to hold on before the remote reached zero.

* * *

><p>Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki walked quickly through the damaged room as they were approaching the doors to take them towards the lobby. The generators for the building were still working; without them and the flashlight Makoto had, they would have had a hard time navigating through broken glass, parts of concrete ceiling, and the steel tables that were along the sides of the corridor. A section of ceiling by the door fell through and hit the ground along a wall as another section collapsed near Haruhi, causing her to jump. With an open door ahead, they walked though into the hallway towards the lobby. The sight before them caused Kyon and Haruhi to gasp.<p>

Large sections of the ceiling and different types of shattered glass covered the hallways, revealing darkly dimmed passageways. Through these passageways were the signs of the flashing yellow lights. If the alarms involved a sound system, it was not working as employees and assistants were in the process of evacuating employees. The outer wall of the observation center on the left had several cracks and openings in the walls. Through the cracks were several reinforced steel beams supporting the structure as much as it could, as a section of ceiling had sunk to the ground about eight feet, bending many steel beam members. Most people who were inside the series of command centers were running through the large openings in order to escape. Some of these people were either screaming for help or screaming commands in order to get others out of trapped areas. Several men, mostly a mix of employees and human guards in black tactical gear were assisting in the process of evacuating the building with flashlights. Sections of ceiling about ten feet high blocked the passageway to the infantry and the wall bordering the security division was in shambles, as a series of 12-inch cracks were streaking up to what was once a ceiling. The ceiling itself had several cracks, some revealing electrical cables that were arcing while a large hole revealed the shattered outer shell of the skyscraper that fell upon the building.

"Haruhi put on your glasses." Kyon said as he went to grab his night-infrared glasses. The lights were beginning to flicker, possibly a sign that the generator in the building would go out.

"I don't have them," Haruhi said, "They took everything I had when they took me to Hatoyama."

Kyon was concerned that the guards were still looking for them, even with the current disaster going on. They had to avoid capture, especially when they had a time limit to find an enclosed area to get away.

A man in a gakuran with a flashlight was assisting those out of the command center when he turned the light towards the laboratories and spotted Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki approaching. The light startled them, as they froze in their tracks.

"You guys got to get out of here!" yelled the man, "This building is collapsing, get to the stairway now!"

They nodded and followed the mass group of employees towards the available stairwell. A look of the lobby proved more horror when the walls along the area of the elevators were thrown inward, revealing the shell of the elevator shaft behind them. The corridor that Kyon, Yuki, Haruhi and Makoto ran down earlier consisted of sections of ceiling, shattered glass and fragments of wood veneering along the walls on the ground as some people were climbing over the debris in order to reach the stairwell. Several guards stood near the elevator shaft to direct people away from the open shaft.

As it was nearly impossible to see straight ahead, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki tried walking to the right most area of the crowd to avoid the guards by the elevator shaft. They made it into the stairwell and began the descent following others who were trying to get out. They tried to exit out on the ninth floor but could not, as many from that floor were trying to use the stairwell to get out. When they made it to the eighth floor, no one was moving because of severe damage in the stairwell between the third and sixth floors and people had to descend the stairs one at a time.

To Kyon, too much time had passed by and he frantically directed Haruhi and Yuki towards the door into the eighth floor lobby. Pushing through a hurried stance of people, they managed to get through and walked in the same earlier direction towards the inner ring corridor that bordered labs 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E. The corridor was nearly pitch black, and Kyon had to stop to get the flashlight out of the tool bag. He could clearly see the corridor in front of him through the night-infrared glasses, as more chunks of the ceiling covered the corridor ahead. Turning the light on, he gave the flashlight to Haruhi, who used it to highlight the hallway. The same machine that Yuki destroyed when Makoto and Kyon were on this floor was still there, but the guard inside the machine was gone. As they approached the intersection, they were shocked to see that the route towards the lab to where the time warp devices were was gone, as several layers of steel and concrete were stacked upon one another.

Noticing that large debris blocked off the corridor leading to the outer ring corridors, they made a right turn and navigated through more debris, this time having to climb over and crawl under sections of concrete ceiling and dodge arcing electrical wires. Making another right and repeating the procedure of climbing and crawling, they found a maintenance room on the right. Kyon still had his ID card and used it on the card reader, but the device made an error sound.

"It's not working?" Haruhi asked.

"No." Kyon replied. He looked up at the frame of the door and noticed that the earthquake had welded the door into the frame. With no chance of accessing that room, Kyon looked down the rest of the darkened corridor when he saw a few people run out of a door in the distance towards a partly lit area. Kyon guided Haruhi and Yuki towards the door and passed a sign for the lab that was along the wall of Lab 2E. As they got closer to the double doors, two more men in lab coats ran out and followed the other people who ran out earlier. While one of them followed the direction their group took, the other noticed Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki approaching and alerted them the danger of the building collapsing soon. Kyon acted as an assistant and told them they were aware of the situation, and were checking rooms to ensure everyone was heading towards the stairwell. Assuming Kyon and Haruhi were assistants as they were helping another girl, the man ran towards the lobby to catch up to his group. With no one else running out the lab, they walked into the lab to find an enclosed area.

There was no power inside the room as Haruhi shined the flashlight around the lab. Kyon's glasses picked up what could have been a laboratory devoted to any cause as tables, computer terminals, shattered glass cabinets and chairs scattered the lab, along with fragments of the ceiling. A small chunk of the ceiling had fallen in one area of the lab and a section of the floor had managed to buckle upward.

Behind the area of the damaged floor was a room for a storage closet. Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki made their way towards the closet, which was open, and walked inside. Shelving units bolted to the ground and ceiling bordered the walls, as small fragments from the ceiling and equipment littered the floor. The small closet was large enough for all three of them to fit in. Kyon guessed it took them nearly ten minutes to find shelter as he guided Yuki and Haruhi in the middle of the room to sit down, as he gave the bag to Haruhi and ran back to the door to close it. Kyon found a light switch and tried to turn on the light but the power was out. Since he could make out the room and two girls with the glasses, he ran back over to Haruhi as she took out one of the devices that resembled a remote and shined it with the flashlight.

Kyon set the bag in the middle and moved towards Yuki to form the circle Makoto used when he and Haruhi were time traveling through dimensions. Yuki looked weak as she sat down with her legs crossed while leaning slightly forward on her hands as Haruhi was on her knees.

"Kyon do you have that sheet?" Haruhi asked as she looked at the remote.

Starting to sweat, Kyon took off the glasses and threw them in the bag as he went into his coat pocket to find the sheet of paper Makoto gave him with instructions on getting out of there. He found the sheet and read it from top to bottom when he and Haruhi noticed a shocking discovery. The moment Kyon saw the sheet before he put it in his pocket, he saw the numbers on the first two lines indicating the latitude and longitude, but didn't expect to see odd lettering or symbols to cover the remaining six lines. Following latitude and longitude was dimension, height, month, day, year and time. Dimension had the American letter B next to it and height had two meters. The month and day had what looked like letters from the Greek alphabet, and the year and time had a series of I's, triangles, X's, and what looked like the American version of a large lowercase R.

Kyon asked Haruhi for the remote and she gave it to him. He found the power switch on the side and flipped it up, as the remote hummed and showed a symbol on the screen. A second later, the first word appeared on the screen: _LATITUDE_. On the screen, a blinking box was on a small horizontal line. Kyon found the arrow buttons at the bottom for up and down, and pressed them until the letters N and S showed in the box. Based on the sheet of paper, latitude was north and longitude was east. Kyon selected "N" and didn't know what to do next until Haruhi pressed the middle button below the screen, making the blinking box move to another longer line on the right. This line had the degree symbol, apostrophe, period and quotation mark set in order. Kyon carefully inputted the numbers while using the right arrow button to move to the next space and pressed the middle button again at the end.

Next was _LONGITUDE_. This time, the letters E and W appeared in the box and again, Kyon entered "E" and the numbers based on the sheet. Next was _DIMENSION_. This time, letters from the American alphabet showed and Kyon easily found the letter B. In _HEIGHT_, Kyon found the number two, but when selecting the basic unit, it started at A and it took Kyon a moment to reach M before he got to the word "meter".

While that part was easy, the challenge started at _MONTH_ when a series of Greek letters appeared as Kyon used the up and down arrow buttons to find the correct symbol that matched the symbol on the sheet. He and Haruhi found out that next to the symbol was the word describing the letters. Kyon found the symbol for _MONTH _as the lowercase Delta, while _DAY_ was the symbol of the lowercase Epsilon. Starting at _YEAR_, Kyon found himself navigating through the letters once at a time, as he had to enter in two X's, a triangle, and the letter I. He noticed an error with the triangle symbol before he moved to _TIME_ and used the left arrow to go back. He had mistaken the uppercase Lambda for the uppercase Delta. Fixing the problem, he moved back to the letter I but the remote erased it, causing Kyon to make a frustrating sigh and enter it in again.

His minor mistake almost made Haruhi lose it. "This is taking way too long Kyon! We're running out of time!" Haruhi yelled as she became concerned.

"I'm almost done!" Kyon said when he got to _TIME_. This time, there was a Lambda, the large lowercase R, an I, another Lambda and another R. He easily got Lambda correctly and found the large lowercase R to be the Greek uppercase letter of Gamma. After putting in the "I", Lambda and Gamma, he pressed the middle button. An hourglass appeared on the screen and then the series of data he had entered in from the sheet. The word _Activate_ was at the bottom with two color buttons for green and red.

He told Haruhi and Yuki to come closer. They converged together as they tightened the circle around the bag as Kyon quickly entered the green button. Something of the making of "Αναμονή" appeared in green on the remote and a moment later, another series of Greek letters appeared in red—with a sort of error sound—with the following:

Γήπεδο Επιβεβαιώθηκε

To Kyon and Haruhi, those letters did not spell out good news. Because the letters were in red, Kyon tried dabbing at the remote but could not get the remote to respond. It looked like the device stopped working or the calculations Kyon entered had made an error somewhere. There was no time to try the process again with the remaining three devices as Kyon stared at the remote dumbfounded.

Haruhi became scared. "Kyon... What did you do? Why is this—?"

Before Haruhi could finish her sentence, everything around them within the room became an intensity of vivid white. In that moment of bright light, there was an explosion of air and loud static. In the vivid light, Kyon could not see Haruhi or Yuki in his view, Haruhi screamed but the loud rush of air and static drowned out her screams, and Yuki collapsed on the floor. Within seconds, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki instantly lost conscious. The vivid light lasted for about fifteen seconds before everything around them went dark.

A man with a flashlight in the corridor checking on the damage heard the explosion come from Lab 2E and ran into the lab to locate the sound. When he could not find the source of the sound, he noticed a light coming from a door to the storage closet on the other side of the lab. As he approached the door, the light that came from under the door disappeared. He opened the door and was surprised to see an empty dark closet of shelving units with equipment and fragments scattered about on the floor. Puzzled, he found the switch to turn on the light but the light did not come on. Making a frustrating sigh, he closed the door and returned to the corridor. Kyon and Haruhi mistook the red lettering as an error, when it was actually the confirmation for the set course to said dimension. The device had sent Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki back to their time period.

* * *

><p>Makoto continued to lie there in the dim dark of Hatoyama's lab. His coughing had gotten worse and the pain in his chest was more intense. He looked at the remote and saw that there was a minute left before the bomb would detonate. He was hoping the bomb would detonate, and hoped that Kyon was able to use the devices to get out of there. As he continued coughing, he noticed several men approach through the open hole in the doors. They looked like assistants who were in the process of checking floors for survivors. Following them was a set of humanoid guards armed with assault rifles. These guards did not look like the ones in the typical military getup of the Entity, but were heavily dressed in black and had a logo of MTP on their arms to indicate they were with the Municipal Tactical Police.<p>

During the earthquake, all guards had to follow an order to protect the safety of those inside the Entity. After Hatoyama directed the guards to take Haruhi to the lab, he secretly told the high-ranking humanoid guard that Masako and Kamiko would take care of Makoto, Kyon and Yuki if they had gotten into the lab and he only wanted a few guards on standby in the lab if something had happened to Masako and Kamiko. While guards ran to the lab to cover for their down comrades, the sudden earthquake occurred and that order immediately went into effect, causing those guards to evacuate the lab and assist in helping people throughout the Entity. A majority of those guards that were in the area when the upper floors of the skyscraper crashed into the Entity during the earthquake were killed, as several floors crushed upon one another, trapping those or killing those in the area. Because they had lost a lot of guards in the breach and an excessive amount in the earthquake, the Municipal Tactical Police took control in securing the safety of people and employees in the Entity.

The assistants and guards saw the carnage in the lab. Chucks and small fragments of concrete covered the floors while three bodies were on the floor. They saw Makoto on the ground as he was coughing, the girl in the school uniform on her back immobile, and a man near the damaged large machine stooped over. A closer look revealed that someone had shot him in the back and below the neck. The assistants turned the man over to identify him and were shocked to see that it was the boss of the Integrated Data Sentient Entity.

Trying to feel for a pulse, they were too late, as Tamotsu Hatoyama had passed on. "The boss is dead!" yelled one of the assistants.

The humanoid guards slowly approached Makoto with their guns drawn towards him. A quick scan of the man indicated that he was gravely injured, and unless the assistants quickly attended to him, he would not make it. The high-ranking humanoid guard who told Hatoyama the guards captured Haruhi was not in the damaged area, but notified the MTP about Makoto, Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki. So far, they had found Makoto, but could not find the boy, girl and humanoid girl.

"It looks like you've lost." the guard said who was near Makoto on his side.

Makoto coughed again until he could not cough anymore, as his breathing shortened and his vision started to darken. Before he passed on, he had a few last words to say. "No... You lost... I'll see you fuckers in hell."

As Makoto uttered his insult at the guard, the timer next to him began beeping. The guard on the other side noticed the remote Makoto had in his hand and grabbed it. As he saw the timer, it was in a countdown mode, and five seconds remained on the timer.

The guard tried to warn the assistants and the others that Makoto had a bomb on him, but before he could go on any further about evacuating, it was already too late. The remote stopped beeping when the timer reached zero, and not a moment too soon did everything within the lab, the building, and the entire city for kilometers erupt into a ball of vivid orange light.

Makoto would not get a chance to the see the bomb explode before he died, but when it did, it was a spectacular bomb. Ethan had considered the bomb as nuclear or beyond atomic based on the technology ΛETO built it on. If one had seen the intensity of the bomb blast from a far away distance, it was beyond every word that followed atomic. If one were 300 kilometers away from the epicenter of the bomb outside the city, they would have seen a vivid and transparent orange dome endower the entire city, almost lightening the opaque sky into a lighter brown color. The blast would vaporize anything within and outside a 50 kilometer radius of the dome from buildings, people, trees, and almost everything. After the blast disappeared, the city would not exist as the bomb blast wiped out the entire city, leaving nothing standing but a flat land of chaos and destruction within the dome. ΛETO had even made the bomb that it would not reveal the epicenter of the initial explosion of energy. No one would understand what had caused such severe devastation from the detonation of a "beyond atomic" device, and as studies and research would continue to determine what happened to Orion City that day in July 4098, it would baffle any person of any background or organization for years to come.


	31. Book 5:Chapter 30

**A/N: Think of the remaining three chapters in Book Five as the pre-epilogue**

* * *

><p><strong>Book Five: Everyone Has a Choice<strong>

**Chapter 30: Homecoming**

Everything was dark.

Kyon remembered the anxiety that was occurring when he tried to put in the codes to the device to get them out of the Entity and that dimension. He carefully matched the symbols on the sheet of paper to the digital display on the device and was sure he had put the right ones in. For some reason after he put the symbols in, it showed a line of symbols in red, and he assumed that indicated the coding did not work. Before he could try anything else to get the device working, Haruhi—as scared as she was—had said his name and had said something when everything went white. The moment of that intense light, he couldn't hear her voice or see her, he lost sight of Nagato in that small room, and he couldn't see anything except bright white, which soon faded to black. Kyon felt that his life was over at that moment and he would meet the maker soon, whether that was the real creator of life or another Haruhi who would scowl him the moment she saw him. It was over. Haruhi, Nagato and Kyon were dead.

When suddenly... Kyon woke up.

_"Gah!"_ He startled.

As clear as day with his eyes open, Kyon could see a pale orange wall in front of him. He tried to see closer but could only make out the orange color with no detail on the wall. He could feel sweat on his forehead as it ran down the sides of his face and into his eyes, causing them to sting. Squinting his eyes, he tried to raise his hands to clear his face of the sweat when he noticed he could not move his hands or arms. He tried to shake his head to clear the sweat but couldn't move his head. He could see and breathe, but he was stiff as a boulder. He tried to speak but could feel the soreness in his throat, preventing him from getting any words out. Everything around him was silent.

Since he could not move or speak, Kyon tried to eye around the room to get an idea of where he was. Starting to see clearly, he eyed to the left and saw a large blinded window along a wall with several picture frames. He could not recognize the individuals in the photos. He found himself next to a wooden table as he could make out a red cushion pillow on the floor. Eyeing to the right, he saw two small bookcases with books and other items along with pots of fake trees. There was an open passageway into the next room but a closer look indicated that the room was dark. The pale orange color he saw straight ahead was the ceiling, and based on the orange glow of the room from the window, Kyon assumed that time had to be around sunset. He tried to see what was behind him and saw the top of a large windowed décor door with frosted glass, as it glowed a bright sunny orange.

After five minutes had gone by since Kyon woke up, he tried to reassess his experience of the last few hours. He, Haruhi and Nagato had left that dimension with that time warp device that he and Haruhi both thought had failed, and while Haruhi questioned him, everything around him in that storage room had went white, as he lost sight of Haruhi and Nagato besides him. Everything then went black and somehow, he ended up inside what looked like a living room area of a residence. He tried to speak out again and could hear himself speak as the soreness in his throat slowly disappeared. Now that he could speak, he could pick up a light ambient noise around him and the sound of a distant car horn from far away. He expected to see Haruhi and Nagato but could not locate them, as his sight was limited to the ceiling above him.

As another minute passed by, he could now move his hands and arms. Trying to get up, he fell back down, as his head and upper body remained heavy. _What the hell is this,_ Kyon thought. At the same time, he could feel something in his right hand. Another minute had gone by and he tried again to get up. This time, he was able to lift himself up and move his head, but he felt stiffness in his neck. Looking at his right hand, he saw the time warp device they used to get out of the Entity. The power switch to the device was still on and Kyon turned it off and on, but the device did not respond. Shaking his head, he set the remote to the side. Using his hands as support from the floor, he looked around the room. The wall opposite of the windowed décor door had a large screen television along with a TV stand and an elevated cabinet the width of the stand below, and another passageway into another darkened room. With clear vision, he pinpointed the tool bag by the table with the folder and essentials inside the bag, and noticed two stationary figures in front of him on the floor. He looked closer and discovered that the figures in front of him were actually Nagato and Haruhi. They were branched in front of him in a Y pattern as he was at the base while Nagato was by the television and Haruhi, who was close to him, was by the foot of the threshold into the next room on the floor.

_Oh no._

Kyon tried to stand to run over to Haruhi but he fell forward onto the floor when he couldn't walk. Resorting to crawling on his knees, he got to Haruhi until he hovered over her by leaning forward with his hands. She was lying on her right side with her arms extended in front of her and her legs bent forward. Her hair covered her face, as fragments from that laboratory were present in her hair and still on her clothing. The flashlight that Haruhi had was by her right hand and was still on. With one hand, Kyon tried to shake Haruhi's shoulder to wake up. After repeated attempts, including one where he pinched her cheek, Haruhi did not move or grunt. Confused on what to do, he tried to stand on his knees—and could now move his feet—and crouched down to the floor next to Haruhi where he could check her pulse or hear for a heartbeat. With her left arm covering her chest and her face facing the ceiling, he moved her arm and tried to feel for a pulse on the inside of her left wrist. Nothing. He tried her neck. Still nothing. Thinking he had checked her pulse wrong, he leaned his head to her chest to hear for a heartbeat or any distinct noise of her breathing, and could not hear anything.

He stared at her lifeless body again. No pulse, no heartbeat, not breathing... Nothing. He glanced over at Nagato, who was in a position similar to Haruhi's but on her left side before looking back at Haruhi. As he approached her again to try CPR based on what he saw on television, he was startled back as Haruhi finally woke up with her eyes closed while kicking and screaming.

_"No! No! NO!" _she screamed.

She was blindly swinging her arms with her fists balled in a defensive manner while screaming. Her piercing screams were so loud that Kyon had to cover his ears. At least he could hear perfectly. In an attempt to break her out of her nightmarish ordeal, Kyon again tried desperately to wake her up by placing his hands on her shoulders and resorted to shaking her. In the process, one of her balled fists made contact with his head, and another almost hit his left eye. Ignoring her blind attacks, he continued to yell at her.

"Haruhi! Wake up!" Kyon yelled. It was no use as her screams drowned out his words. He was concerned that someone in whatever area the device sent them to would hear her screams and mistake them for someone assaulting a girl. He also noticed that while it took him time to get up and feel parts of his body in order to move, Haruhi somehow had no stiffness, as she was able to move the instant she started screaming.

Since his yells weren't getting across, Kyon then tried to scream her name.

"HARUHI, WAKE UP!"

Haruhi made a loud gasp as her eyes opened wide. The swaying of her arms instantly stopped as she stared at Kyon in front of her. For a moment, they looked at each other with the same shocked look as Haruhi's arms were still in the air, but she bought them back slowly to the floor as they continued to stare at one another in silence. Kyon still had his hands on Haruhi's shoulders while watching the concern in her expression and thought she would slap him or yell at him for getting too close to her. Instead and as a shock to Kyon, Haruhi lurched forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, forcing him towards her on the ground. His face touched her right shoulder and he couldn't see anything until he turned his head and got a glimpse of Haruhi's worrisome and sad face with her eyes closed. She moved her hands from his neck towards his back and still clung onto him.

Kyon managed to help Haruhi up to her knees as she still embraced him. She sunk her face into his chest, as he was thinking that Haruhi must have thought they had died. Nagato remained near the television and since he and Haruhi woke up, she hadn't moved since. They had to check on her next.

With her face still buried in his chest, Kyon looked at Haruhi and tried to talk to her. "Haruhi? What is it?" Kyon asked.

With a worrisome face, she stared at him. "I thought we were dead."

Kyon sighed and embraced Haruhi while he brought his face close to hers. She didn't resist his embrace. "I think we're here Haruhi. I think we're safe."

Haruhi took a moment to observe the room they were in, noticed the furniture surrounding the room, the blinded window and windowed décor door. She saw an opened path into the other room that was between the bookcases and fake trees and saw the entryway into another room behind her. She glanced back towards the television and saw Yuki on the floor motionless. "Oh, my god! Yuki!" she said as she pushed away from Kyon and got up to run to her. Kyon had thought that Haruhi had managed to regain full control of her body, but as she got up, he saw Haruhi's knees buckle forward and she almost fell but he grabbed her to stop her fall.

However, in the process of attempting to stop her fall, Kyon spun around while his back hit the floor and Haruhi landed on top of him while they collided forehead to forehead. Haruhi ended up to the right of Kyon and put her hands on her forehead while Kyon dealt with a mild headache. He apologized for not stopping her fall but she said the pain in her knees caused her to fall as she leaned forward to rub her knees. The pain in her knees had faded away when they left the Entity after that woman forced her to the ground, but it was back again when she stood up. Thinking she couldn't walk on her feet, she began to crawl on her sore knees towards Yuki until Kyon helped her up and walked her towards the humanoid girl.

Kyon and Haruhi formed a circle on the floor around Yuki, as she was lying on her left side identical to how Haruhi was on the floor with her arms and legs extended forward. "Yuki?" Haruhi said as she shook her shoulder. Kyon told Haruhi that it could take time for Nagato to wake up since he saw how she was slow in responding when he tried to get her up. After what felt like a minute went by, Haruhi again tried to shake her while pleading for her to wake up.

As Haruhi tried to wake Yuki, Kyon stared at the remote that was by the table from his earlier position. Something about that remote had made him and Haruhi experience intense stiffness in their bodies. As he looked at Nagato, he worried that the device had caused her to not respond or wake up. If the device had helped them get back to their time period, but had a flaw that prevented humanoids from waking up, it could cause Haruhi to suffer a breakdown worse than seeing Makoto die on that floor.

After several attempts of shaking Yuki in order for her to wake up, Yuki's eyes finally opened, making Haruhi and Kyon sigh in relief and Haruhi asked Yuki if she was all right. Instead of responding, it looked like Yuki was trying to help herself up but she couldn't. Kyon then asked her if she was all right while Haruhi asked if something was wrong. She could hear both of their questions. A second went by until she spoke.

"I am unable to move as my body functions are paralyzed. However, it is possible I can move shortly but it will take time. I am in the process of restoring."

Kyon and Haruhi continued to hover over Yuki in silence for another two minutes before she was able to move slowly. When it appeared to Kyon and Haruhi that she needed help up, they stood up and helped Yuki stand on her feet. Unlike them, who had problems standing after waking up, she could stand vertically with no problems. Haruhi took a moment to wipe the fragments off her shoulders.

"Are you okay Nagato?" Kyon asked.

As usual, Nagato replied with, "I'm fine."

Kyon and Haruhi both made another sigh. "Well I... I guess we're all here." Haruhi said lost in thought as she looked around the room. Kyon looked at Nagato again and walked towards the tool bag. Based from Haruhi's perspective, the room looked like a living room based on the furniture, and the bright orange glow from the blinded window behind Yuki indicated that it was either morning or evening. As Kyon looked around after picking up the tool bag and time warp device, he heard someone make a depressing sigh followed by sniffling and saw Haruhi standing in the same spot with her head tilted down. With her eyes closed, he looked closer and saw a tear leave her eye.

"Haruhi... a-are you okay?" Kyon asked as carried the tool bag in his left hand as he approached her. Yuki stared at her with her typical expressionless face.

She shook her head and faced Kyon. "Makoto... He's not here." She said sorrowfully.

In that lab, Haruhi had told Makoto to promise her that he would see her again after he had said he would meet her "on the other side." Since Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki woke up, Makoto hadn't shown up. Kyon thought Makoto had told Haruhi that he would meet her again in order to get her out of that dimension safely. He didn't know if that bomb had detonated successfully, and if it did, Makoto probably didn't make it, especially after he said that woman had hurt him very badly.

"He said he would be here Kyon. Why isn't he here?" she said as she used her sleeve to wipe away her tears.

Kyon tried to think of something to tell Haruhi when Yuki's head rose upward and she started talking, getting their attention. "I am detecting an unbalance in the current time period. This unbalance is occurring..." She stared at Haruhi and a second went by until Yuki said to Kyon, "There appears to be an issue with the current time period. Action is necessary to correct the problem. Also, based on the dimensions of this building, there are six people on this floor."

Before Haruhi could question what Yuki had said about an unbalance in the time period, Kyon moved forward and hugged Haruhi once more to calm her down. He understood what Nagato meant: Haruhi was very worried—and upset—about Makoto not keeping his promise to see her again, and her emotions were causing an unbalance in the time period, meaning that they were indeed back home. His action right now was to comfort Haruhi and convince her that he would show up or do nothing and something bad would happen soon. He wondered why Makoto had made that statement on seeing Haruhi again if he had died in that dimension.

"Haruhi, listen to me," Kyon said as he placed his hands on her shoulders while looking at her, "I'm sure Makoto will come. He has to come."

Haruhi looked up at him with that sad, worrisome face she had earlier.

Kyon continued. "He's probably running late. I'm sure he'll be here so—."

That's when it dawned on Kyon about what Nagato had said in that last sentence. She said there were six people in this building, but based on the near silence outside, and no sounds within the other two rooms, it was just him, Haruhi and Nagato in that room. And she said "floor", like as if they were in a two-story or multi-story building. All this time of being in the room, he didn't check the view on the other side of the blinded window, for the bright orange glow flooded through, blocking any ability to see beyond the window.

Kyon tuned to face Nagato. "Nagato, what do you mean there's _six _people on this floor? It's only the three of us."

"There are three people in this room including myself. However, within this building, there are three additional people present."

Another tear went down Haruhi's other eye as she became frustrated. Something was wrong with Yuki and she didn't know if the time warp device or that fight with that other humanoid girl had caused her to malfunction or made her not think or analyze correctly. "Yuki, just stop it!" she said distressed, "What's wrong with you? There's no one else here."

At first, Yuki tried to speak but could not. As she and Kyon shared glances at each other while Haruhi stood there looking down at the floor, a voice emerged somewhere within the room.

"_I am here._"

Kyon and Haruhi gasped as the voice came from the corner behind them. In the doorway to the darkened room opposite of the windowed décor door, a man was standing with a familiar bag draped around his left shoulder. He had a familiar large watch on his left arm, long black hair, and his brown eyes reflected from the window. Despite his casual clothing, Kyon and Haruhi could not believe the man standing there in the doorway was who they thought it was.

Makoto Higashiyama.

As Haruhi wiped the tears off her face, she, Kyon and Yuki could see that Makoto was not the only person there. As he walked forward into the room, two other people followed behind him. One was the girl that Makoto said to harass Haruhi at the mansion with a large handbag draped over her right shoulder. Her brown hair flowed down her back and around her shoulders, and she had on a light blue jean jacket and a multi colored dress down to her sandals. A small watch was on her left wrist. The other was a man in jeans and a t-shirt that stated he used to work for the Data Overmind. Besides Makoto standing before them, Kyon and Haruhi were shocked to see Gina and Kevin standing behind him.

"Hi Haruhi. Kyon. Yuki." Makoto said in a normal tone.


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: The Reality of Truth**

While Yuki stared at the three people by the passageway into the next room, Kyon and Haruhi stood there in astonishment as they stared at them, particularly at Makoto. Kyon remembered that guard at the Entity shot him in the shoulder and Haruhi remembered that that woman had done something to his chest, but for some reason, he appeared to be in good health and wasn't leaning or holding his shoulder.

As Makoto, Kevin and Gina got closer to Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki, they noticed something odd about them. Besides the three of them having fragments on their hair and clothing, Gina thought she could see distant discoloration on Kyon and Haruhi's face. She stepped forward towards the three while placing her right hand over her mouth. While Kevin noticed their appearance was as if they had came back from Hell, his attention turned to Yuki as her short lavender hair was all over the place. If she had an emotion, she looked lost. Makoto looked at them in astonishment, and then noticed the tool bag with the orange folder sticking out in Kyon's left hand.

Gina was the first to approach Haruhi, and based on the look of her face, she looked shocked. "Oh, my God. Haruhi… Kyon… what happened to you?" she said as she got close and looked at Haruhi's worrisome face. She could make out redness on the left side of her face.

Haruhi stared at her without saying a word. She then looked at Kyon and noticed light bruising on his forehead and a scar on the left side of his head.

Kevin approach Yuki while trying to wipe the remaining fragments away from her clothing and hair while Makoto collected the bag from Kyon. He noticed the flashlight on the ground and threw it in the bag. Makoto could tell something was wrong with Gina. "Well Gina," he asked, "What do you want to do?"

Kyon and Haruhi looked at Gina. For a moment, Kyon noticed that something was strange about her. While Makoto collected the bag and checked the ΛETO folder, and Kevin was attending to Nagato's aide, Gina seemed to have the most worry concerning him and Haruhi. When they first met her, Kyon thought she was just an occupant of that mansion of people in that year-less period. He was wondering by her acting as the commander in charge that she had another identity they didn't know about.

Kyon's assumption of Gina having another identity proved true when what she said next made him start to think about that option. "Th... They can't continue in this time period like this. It looks as though someone slapped Haruhi and someone beat on Kyon." Gina shook her head and turned her attention to Kevin. "Kevin, how's Yuki?"

"She's here and she said she's fine, but I have to agree with you," Kevin responded as he looked at Kyon and Haruhi, "I don't think they can continue like this. Not to be sarcastic, but they all look like they went through the trip from Hell."

That's when Haruhi decided to speak up. "That man... he hurt us. It wasn't easy getting Yuki from that place and..." Haruhi looked away while making a sigh and couldn't finish her sentence as she covered her mouth with a confused look.

She didn't have to finish that sentence. It seemed that Gina knew the rest of the story even though she wasn't there, thus the reason of the faded bruising on their faces. _"Oh, that motherfucker."_ She mumbled under her hand. Looking towards Makoto, she asked him if all the documents were still in that orange folder. He replied that they were all in there and nothing was missing.

Gina kneeled down as she spoke to Kyon and Haruhi while placing her hands on Haruhi's shoulders. "I think it's best if we went back to the mansion. I don't think you, Kyon or Yuki can continue like this in this condition. We'll all go back so you can clean up and you can tell me everything that happened. Okay?"

Kyon and Haruhi looked at each other before looking at Yuki. Getting nothing but her expressionless face, they turned to Gina and nodded.

Makoto approached Gina while dabbing at his watch. He noticed Kyon staring at him and Gina suspiciously. He hadn't had the chance to tell them about himself when Gina jumped into action. Whatever it was, it would have to wait later. "Don't worry Kyon. We'll explain once we get there."

While setting the watch, Kyon asked Makoto if his watch could teleport Yuki back to the mansion. He said it would while giving Kyon the tool bag to wrap around his shoulder and told everyone to hold hands. They all joined hands and Makoto told them to be ready. As Kyon and Haruhi were familiarized with the method of Makoto's time travel, they, Yuki, Kevin, Gina and Makoto were sent back to that mansion in the year-less time period.

* * *

><p>Everything had happened so fast once Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki saw Makoto, Kevin and Gina in that living room, but it left the former with a lot of questions for the ladder once they got back to the mansion. After arriving at that dark room, then trekking though the forest back to the house in daylight, they stayed there for what seemed to be hours as Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki cleaned up and Isabella took care in giving them treatment for their bruises and other necessaries. After a shower, a quick change of clean clothes, and a small supper since Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki were hungry; they along with Makoto, Kevin and Gina piled into Ethan's workshop to discuss what happened at the Entity, while Ethan and Isabella were in the process of washing and dry-cleaning the gakurans and Yuki's school outfit.<p>

With Makoto standing against the wall, Kevin sitting on the counter, and Kyon, Haruhi, Yuki and Gina in chairs, Makoto, Kevin and Gina listened to Kyon and Haruhi's story about everything that happened from the moment they got to the Entity to when they and Yuki left the Entity in that small storage room with the time warp device. With Haruhi doing most of the talking, she told them about the confrontation with the strangers, entering and seeing the inside of the Entity; the stages in saving Yuki and getting Yuki while the "other" Makoto eliminated guards who got in their way. That continued when Hatoyama's guards abducted Haruhi, his attempt in changing her into a humanoid interface, the fight scene between those women and the other Makoto and Yuki, and how she and Kyon tried to stop Hatoyama, and the result following that unexpected earthquake. She concluded on what happened involving Hatoyama before the other Makoto shot him, how he told them to leave while he detonated the bomb manually; the course of traveling through damaged corridors to get away, and finally reaching the room before leaving that dimension and arriving in the living room of some house.

After the end of Haruhi's conversation, Makoto, Kevin and Gina were flabbergasted at what they had been though. Makoto and Kevin shook their heads, and Gina had her hand on her face while she tried to comprehend their story. Yuki had nothing to say as she sat in the chair, and listened in on what they along with the other Makoto did to save her from the Entity.

Gina sighed as her hand fell from her face onto the counter. She then looked at Makoto with a scowl. Offended by the scowl on her face, Makoto spoke up. "Don't give me that funny look Gina! I told you it wouldn't be easy getting into that place alone without assistance! In order to save Yuki, I needed more than one person. That's why I asked them for assistance."

Kevin followed him. "I told him that he... the _other_ he, Haruhi and Kyon would engage in a suicide mission. He said he could do it and I'm assuming his clone did. Just to let you know, I checked to confirm that the Entity was destroyed in their time period and it currently is along with that city. That's why Yuki said earlier she could not connect to the Entity. She can still function but cannot take, send or receive commands from the Entity since they no longer exist."

After a moment of silence, Kyon decided the time was now open for discussion, as there were important matters to discuss. Clearly, he and Haruhi now understood that there were two Makoto's—and he hadn't said anything yet about why there was another one of him—and Gina still hadn't said anything about why she was so interested and concerned in their wellbeing. It was time to find out the truth.

"Gina, I think me and Haruhi need to know something."

Gina looked up and waited for Kyon to continue.

"Who are you really? I thought you said you were a member of an organization where your life was in danger and you abandoned them. Are you with an actual organization?"

Gina sat up as she looked at Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki. She rolled forward in her chair while clasping her hands together and told them what Kyon wanted to know.

"I told you that I was with an organization where my life was in danger as an excuse to conceal my real identity. I am with an organization, but that organization was not looking for me and my life was never in danger." She looked down, and then looked up to say the following: "Actually, I am a member of the Λstronomical Evaluation of Time Observers."

Kyon and Haruhi gasped as their jaws dropped. Yuki stared at Gina while her head lowered a centimeter. Kyon now understood. From the beginning way before the mission started and probably earlier before he and Haruhi met Makoto, _she_ had told him to save Yuki Nagato. Based on what Makoto had said, he required additional assistance to save Nagato and she likely agreed, but based on her scowls, she wasn't expecting Makoto to involve them in saving their friend, even if they risked their lives trying. From Gina's perspective, what Kyon and Haruhi went through in saving Yuki almost damn near got them killed. From what Haruhi remembered, that organization had asked Makoto to save Yuki, for they knew what would happen in the future. Now that Gina had said she was a member of that organization, did she and her organization knew what would have happened to them in their future?

"So... _you're_ the one who asked Makoto to find Yuki?" Haruhi asked in amazement.

"Yes," Gina responded, "I asked him to assist me in this mission at the request of my organization. However, I wasn't expecting him to get you and Kyon involved in this along with telling you too much information like he did." She said while looking at him with that same scowl.

Makoto shrugged his shoulders. Another reason why Gina was sending him scowls was that he had an order on what he had to do and tell them, and he told them too much... _way_ too much than she expected. "All three of us have something to tell them Gina," Makoto said, "I still have to tell them why they went to the Entity with a replica of me."

Ignoring him, she turned to face Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki and finish her story, mostly towards Kyon. "My organization... foresaw what happened in your future after December 21, 2010. Yuki's role in the future of your time period was very significant that my organization saw the danger of the Entity taking her and action was required to keep her in your dimension. When the Data Integration Thought Entity took Yuki away, we looked at the possibilities of what would have happened if you got Haruhi to recreate the universe. Through several findings, there was no way you and Haruhi would have gotten Yuki back, and in those findings, we saw what you and Haruhi did by creating chaos, but your methods were unsuccessful."

She waited a moment while Kyon understood the situation. Haruhi looked at Kyon while he looked to the floor, then at Yuki, and finally back at Gina.

"However, I cannot really say too much about the mission or what happened in the end when your methods failed because I am limited on what I can tell you because it is strictly confidential. That's why I asked Makoto to save Yuki, but he decided that he required more assistance for that mission, and that's where the both of you came in. All I can conclude is… Haruhi wanted Yuki to stay. But it didn't work out that way and... That's much of what I can tell you."

That was all Gina could tell them. She couldn't tell Kyon much about how and why Haruhi had successfully used her powers to assist them at the Entity. For months, Koizumi, Asahina and Nagato told Kyon that if Haruhi ever learned of her powers, or if she became depressed or angry, it would result in the end of the world or world destruction. However, while they may have told him the consequences regarding Haruhi's awareness of her powers, Gina learned that there was a method for Haruhi to use her powers if she became depressed or angry, _not_ if someone notified her about her powers. Since Haruhi was a girl in denial originally, it would be difficult proving to her she had powers, and anyone who told her about her powers she would ignore them, for that person had said such "nonsense." It wasn't that Hatoyama had slapped Haruhi that triggered that earthquake and her hidden powers in that dimension, but a document in that folder she overlooked stated that a series of critical steps would have made Haruhi angry to the breaking point in using her powers.

Regarding Hatoyama's assault on Haruhi, there were three stages: The first stage was her concern for Yuki. The second stages consisted of the shootings, the guards abducting her and Hatoyama's attempt to change her into something else. The third one, which proved critical and depressing, was watching that woman and other humanoid girl abuse Makoto, Kyon and Yuki before Hatoyama hurt her wrist and _then _slapped her, triggering her anger to the breaking point in releasing her powers to cause that severe earthquake. When the cloned Makoto asked her to make a wish for protection, that wish influenced—rather intensified—the use of her powers. She found that out later in the missed document when they came back to the mansion when she saw it labeled as "_Please Read! Important advice for encountering Haruhi Suzumiya_._"_ The incident where Gina sexually harassed Haruhi per request of Makoto wasn't enough to make her angry to the breaking point. And after finding out that Makoto had proven to Haruhi that she had powers, she didn't use them in their dimension before they left or in their year-less dimension, for she had likely "gained" trust from Makoto and Kyon, and her powers were somehow on standby.

That meant that although Haruhi was a God, her powers _would _work in any dimension—including theirs—but if anyone else did a series of stages to hurt or harm Haruhi, it would happen again. Hatoyama slapping her may have caused her to produce not only an earthquake in that city, but a powerful earthquake worldwide. If Hatoyama had killed her, it could have been much worse as the world in that dimension would have ended, and if that son of a bitch knew her history or her capabilities from Yuki's observations, why was he determined to change or kill Haruhi?

Kyon sat back in his chair. He now understood... well... he understood that his method of making Haruhi change the world to bring Yuki back if she disappeared would have gone sour, as the Entity created Yuki in a different dimension. It didn't matter what he and Haruhi did; the Entity would have won and they would not have Yuki, which would have made Haruhi resort to something more drastic, which would have eventually failed. That point did hit home when Makoto said that in the clubroom that Tuesday before he took them on a quest to save Yuki in that dimension from her tyrant boss.

Haruhi's face started to glow slightly. "Then... that means you're a time traveler from a time traveling organization?"

Gina nodded her head. "I am a time traveler Haruhi."

"Then you know Mikuru? She's a time traveler too. That's what Kyon and Makoto told me."

Gina sighed as she looked at Makoto again. "No. I don't know her. She doesn't work for the organization I work for, and I don't know her organization either. Just what's in that folder gives me information on how she and others interact to you."

"Oh," Haruhi said as she put her finger to her lips, "I see."

Gina sat back in her chair. She had told them what she planned to tell them, but she wasn't the only one with secrets. "But that's my story. Makoto and Kevin also have a story to share... don't you guys?" Gina said while turning around to face them.

Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki looked at Makoto and Kevin as they looked at each other. Makoto must have pressured Kevin in going next as Kevin raised his hands and jump off the counter.

"Okay," Kevin said. "I do have something to say, but it's directed towards Kyon and Yuki."

Kevin walked towards them until he was next to Gina. "I want to thank you for bringing me the remaining time warp devices from the Entity. I wasn't expecting it, but the other three work and the one you used doesn't, but you have my gratitude for bring them to me. And about what you guys experienced when you woke up, that came from the device. It's what I call _time warp lag_, and I forgot to tell you about that and I apologize. No health risks, just intense stiffness. However, there is something I have to tell you Kyon, and it's important that I do tell you because if I don't, you'll never find out the real story. Then again, I guess I'm limited on what I do have to say." He said as he stared at Gina.

Gina shrugged her shoulders. "You're the one talking."

"What about?" Kyon asked.

"Do you remember…*sigh* Ryoko Asakura?"

Kyon sat back slightly. Did he know that name? He _hated_ hearing that name. The same name that belonged to a classmate that tried to kill him many times in the past. Kyon sighed. "Yeah I remember her." He said. He really didn't want to talk about Asakura, especially not in front of Haruhi. "What about her?"

Kevin took a moment before he spoke again. "Before I tell you about Asakura, I need to apologize to you. And I also owe an apology for Yuki."

Kyon and Haruhi were confused. _Why was he apologizing?_

Kevin scratched his head. "I hate to tell you this Kyon... and Yuki... but I know the reason why Asakura tried to... do what she did to you many times. And it's because, I'm the reason why she did those 'things' many times."

Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki looked at one another. "What do you mean, 'things'?" Haruhi asked.

Kevin sighed. He hated doing this but knew he had to do it. Plus, he didn't know how much he could say that wouldn't cause Haruhi to lose her mind—that was _if_ she lost her mind.

"Something you're not supposed to know Haruhi, but... Ah hell. Secrets will be broken down the road anyway but... Here's the point. Asakura tried to kill Kyon many times, and it's my fault because of it."

While Haruhi widened her eyes in shock and Yuki sat there motionless, Kyon became aware of what Kevin had just said. He could tell that Kevin was having difficulty explaining himself, likely because he was restricted on what he could tell them in front of Gina, or maybe because he was nervous.

Kevin continued. "As you should have known Kyon, Asakura was another alien, humanoid interface that was sent at the same time the Entity sent Yuki to monitor humanity and of course, Haruhi. Anyway, she had an order to follow and that order was to act as Yuki's backup. Unfortunately and as you know Kyon, Asakura should have not acted on her own when she tried to kill you to see how Haruhi would react to your death.

"The reason why she tried to kill you was because I injected... rather hacked her system to install emotions. You see, when I was an employee of the Data Integration Thought Entity, we had to follow strict protocol on humanoid interfaces. They were made without emotions, and the group of people I worked with thought we could make emotions work within them so they could act more human, but we couldn't because it violated protocol at the Entity. So, as a risk, we went against protocol and hacked into three interfaces to try the emotions. Overtime, the emotions caused two of them to dismantle themselves, and Asakura was the third one where the emotions did work and they would have eventually. However, I had no idea that somewhere within the data programming of emotions along with witnessing the bond between you and Haruhi, she would take it in the account of jealously and decided to go on her own against the Entity to kill you, in order to see how Haruhi would respond. We suspected dismantlement a possibility if the emotions failed, but we didn't consider the option of killing those close to Haruhi. It's why I'm here at this mansion, because the Entity let me go. Violating protocol at the Entity is wrong, but the punishment for employees who violate it is unethical, but that's their excuse of getting rid of people; thus the reason I escaped from the Entity with a time warp device so they wouldn't kill me, but my group wasn't as fortunate."

Kevin concluded his speech. "What I'm trying to tell you is that there is a reason why Yuki was made without emotions. Matter of fact, I think it would be better if Yuki didn't have them. If she did, there is the possibility that somewhere down the road, a fault would occur within her, and she could try drastic measures to you or anyone else. Therefore, I apologize for Asakura trying to kill you, and I apologize to Yuki for putting her in that hostile situation."

Kyon didn't know what to say. Sure, he assumed that Asakura tried to kill him because she was jealous of the bond as Kevin put it between himself and Haruhi, but he wouldn't have thought that Kevin was the reason why she tried to kill him so many times. He accepted Kevin's apology and Yuki responded by saying, "I accept your apology."

Haruhi however had a concern. She remembered that Asakura transferred to Canada for unknown and mysterious reasons, but not because she tried to kill someone, especially Kyon. "But, I-I thought she transferred to Canada. Not because she tried to kill Kyon. I could never find out why she transferred." Before Kevin could answer, she stared at Yuki. "Do you know _anything_ about this Yuki? You said you didn't that time."

Yuki stared at her before looking at Kyon. Kevin didn't think Yuki was expecting that question from Haruhi and spoke before she could say anything.

"For her transferring to Canada Haruhi," he responded, "Let's just say she transferred to Canada to go into a mental institution to get help for what she did, and she's going to be stuck there for a long time. Humanoid interfaces need help just like humans. That's what happened. And I think it's best when you leave here"—he looked at Gina again—"you keep that information to yourself. _Don't_ tell anyone else, or it'll have an serious impact not only for Kyon, but for your time period as well. That's a secret you'll need to keep to yourself, and Kyon and Yuki will have to do the same thing. Okay?"

Haruhi nodded and sighed. She was somewhat aware of what Kevin had told her but slightly confused at the same time. "I understand."

Kyon did remember that night in December when Nagato told him about her abnormal behavior; about how it would cause her to have errors overtime, and he wanted his advice for what she said.

Kevin knew about that problem but couldn't say much on the subject as it was confusing and commonly misinterpreted, but stated that humanoid interfaces were not made as perfect machines and will eventually make mistakes. He added that Yuki should not worry about being perfect, for the Entity was always on perfection but could never achieve it. He did have some advice for Yuki. "If you want to think of yourself as a perfectionist Yuki, that's your right. But always remember to be yourself. Since the Entity couldn't do anything about the errors then, they won't affect you in any way now since they are gone. I'm pretty sure of it. In addition, you and the other humanoid interfaces from the Entity can still function without connection to the Entity. If there was ever a time something happened at the Entity and connections became lost, interfaces could still function on their own. Even if it became permanent, which it is now, the Entity can't control you no more. So... You're what I'd call a 'free girl' to live on your own."

Yuki lightly nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

Kevin nodded with a smile as he stepped back towards the counter and looked at Makoto, as it was his turn to explain himself. Before he could explain, Isabella came in and said that she and Ethan had finished cleaning the gakurans and they were in the room Kyon and Haruhi shared that one time. Makoto nodded and she walked out of the room.

"Uh, Makoto, are we leaving in those gakurans?" Kyon asked.

Makoto nodded. "When we get done today, you'll go back wearing them. Gina's organization already prepared your time period. Your school clothes you had on when you first came here are back at your house along with your schoolbags. You'll see when you get back home."

"Just tell your parents you had fun. They'll understand." Gina said.

Makoto stepped forward to give his speech. "I also want to thank you for bring back the stuff the other Makoto used including his watch. I appreciate it. And I know that my clone that helped you at the Entity didn't make it in the end... Am I right?"

Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki nodded.

He addressed Haruhi. "You probably thought that it was me who went with you to the Entity, but considering what happened and I guess I anticipated that it would happen, I had a clone assist you at the Entity. I am the real Makoto Higashiyama. I'm the one who came to the clubroom on that Tuesday and told you what happened to Yuki along with my background. I got into that escalation with Koizumi and Asahina. I'm the one who took you out of your time period and showed you what happened when you were young Haruhi and the alternate dimension Kyon went through. I'm even the one who told Gina to sexually harass you in order to see if you had your powers. And I was there when Ethan showed us the canisters that you and the clone would use at the Entity, and that discussion we had about penetrating the Entity.

"However, before you guys went to the Entity and when you were changing, I had a clone take my place and informed him of the situation. He knew the risk and took my place. So when you guys left the mansion, you were going with a clone, while I stayed here. The real me, Gina and Kevin waited for you to come to that house when you completed that mission and we were concerned if you didn't make it, but glad when you did made it. We just waited for the opportunity to come into the room to salute you, but you guys went through a rough experience."

Haruhi now understood why the other Makoto had told her she would see him again: She would see this Makoto, the one who she first met in that clubroom when he introduced himself and told her and Kyon his existence and the mission to save Yuki.

"So... how many are there of you Makoto?" Haruhi asked.

"A few," Makoto said, "but I couldn't give you a number. Only I know. There have been times that I myself would engage in a mission, and there are times a clone will take my place."

While this Makoto knew based on Kyon and Haruhi's testimony that his clone killed Tamotsu Hatoyama, any other clone knew Hatoyama because of the incident of invading the first organization where he was an assistant to the "soon-to-be" Data Overmind. He had himself cloned in the event he engaged in future missions where the likelihood of surviving was grim. Everything from his childhood to memories of past missions and other events transferred over to his clones, including life-changing events like the death of his companion. That meant while he himself remembered how Hatoyama killed his companion that one time, his other clones also knew of that incident and were out to seek revenge against Hatoyama if they ever encountered him.

"There was something else I had to explain, but I don't know if I can tell you why Yuki was not in that classroom on that Tuesday. Can I do that Gina or is that restricted?" he asked Gina.

Gina stared at him with that same scowl and sighed. "I... No. Besides, you're telling them more than I told you to tell them." she responded. She had that look that told Makoto to stop it.

"I want to know." Haruhi spoke out. "Why was Yuki not in that classroom? Was that the time the Entity took her?"

Even if Makoto wanted to tell her, Yuki placed her hand on Haruhi's hand while shaking her head no, indicating that she didn't want Haruhi to know about what happened to her.

Haruhi would not refuse. "Yuki. I want to know. When something happens to you, I want to know. I... I care about you. Don't you think I have a right to know about what happens to you? Or Kyon? Or anyone?"

Yuki sat back. "I think that if he or myself tells you about what happened, it could cause a catastrophic event to this time period."

Haruhi made a sour face that indicated she was dying to know. It got Kevin's attention that he called out to Yuki to get her attention. "Yuki... In your opinion, what's the risk of Haruhi knowing what happened to you the days you went missing in that time period?"

Yuki took a second to analyze before answering. "There is a high possibility that if she is aware of my occurrence, it may cause her to exhibit behaviors that may result in a catastrophic event to this current dimension."

Gina sighed. She didn't want to experience a cataclysmic event created by Haruhi for wanting to know what happened to Yuki. Kevin turned to face Makoto. "Does that watch have the ability to go back in time if something bad happened?"

Makoto had used his watch many times to go back to a moment if the world he was in would encounter a life-threatening danger to himself and humanity, correct an error made by him or someone else, or to escape the world if necessary. That was where the alarm came in handy and it saved him many times in many missions. Because Makoto told Gina, Kyon and Haruhi the capabilities of his watch if something had happened, he was not concerned about telling Haruhi what happened to Yuki, but knew Gina would only send him scowls just to shut him up.

He decided to tell her anyway, but told Yuki and reassured Gina he could fix the problem by sending them back a few minutes where they wouldn't have this discussion of telling Haruhi about her disappearance. He then addressed Kyon and Haruhi. "You guys wanted to know before we left that alternate dimension about why I could not tell you about Yuki dying in three days. At the time, I could not tell you why from the clubroom period because it would affect the mission. Now that you and Haruhi have Yuki, I can now tell you why but you might want to brace yourselves for what I'm about to say."

Kyon and Haruhi moved forward in their chairs.

He continued. "That Tuesday in the clubroom, I told you about the Entity taking Yuki and her life was in danger. The reason why Yuki was not in the classroom on Monday or Tuesday was that the Entity brought her back that Sunday night, and on Monday, they terminated her."

Makoto let that float around for a few seconds before continuing, as Haruhi covered her mouth and Kyon was astounded.

"I could not tell you that the Entity terminated Yuki because if I had told you that, I don't think Haruhi would have believed me. And if I had convinced her that Yuki was dead and we were going back in time to save her, Haruhi probably would have destroyed the world before even trying to save Yuki. So I had to conceal that. But now that you have her, and since the other me successfully destroyed the Entity, you guys have won. You defeated the Entity and you got Yuki. So you don't have to worry about anything happening to Yuki ever again. She'll be safe and no one from that Entity can hurt her again."

Kyon and Haruhi both nodded after hearing Makoto's last statement. Makoto looked at his watch and the alarm did not go off, possibly indicating that Haruhi could take the story and not get upset.

"I see." Haruhi said. She turned to Yuki. "That's all I wanted to know Yuki. So from now on, I want you to tell me when something is bothering you. And stop keeping secrets from me!"

Kyon looked at Nagato and was surprised to see her staring at him, as if she wanted his opinion to say anything to Haruhi. He nodded, and she told Haruhi she understood.

Since Gina, Kevin and Makoto had finished their statements, Kyon had one last question for Gina. "Gina... Is there a reason why your organization wanted to destroy the Entity with a bomb?"

However, Gina couldn't answer that, for the context in why they had to use a bomb was _highly_ confidential.

After a brief moment of silence and that Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki experienced the reality of truth from Makoto, Kevin and Gina, Haruhi wanted to know one last thing. "Now that Yuki is safe and the Entity can't hurt her... Is this all over? Can Yuki continue in our time period without mysteriously disappearing again?

Makoto assured her that Yuki was safe and they did not have to worry about the Entity attempting to abduct her again, but Gina knew it wasn't over... yet.

"Not quite." Gina said as she lower her head. "Yuki is safe and the Entity can't do anything to Yuki ever again, but there is a problem, and it involves you Haruhi."

As Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki waited for her to respond, she addressed Haruhi.

"My organization doesn't believe that you can continue in your time period with the awareness of your secret personality. There is a risk that if you release information of your personality or what we've told you, it could pose as a threat to the world. Therefore, per the request of my organization, I have to use a device to erase your memories of what you have seen and what we told you earlier."

The look on Haruhi's face revealed confusion.

"When I gave Makoto this mission, he told me he needed assistance in order to save Yuki. I thought he would seek assistance from people he knew but he selected you and Kyon for this mission. Plus, he told me that he had to take you back in time to show you what you did on Tanabata and to that alternate dimension Kyon went through when Yuki changed the world to convince you to believe. *sigh* You weren't supposed to see that Haruhi, and you're weren't supposed to go to the Entity. You've seen and experienced too many things that I'm worried may have an effect on you down the road. The same applies to Kyon, and my organization is requesting that I also have to use the device on him to erase parts of his memory. I really don't want to do this, but it's an order from my organization, and I have to follow it. I'm sorry Haruhi and Kyon."

Kyon and Haruhi didn't know what to say as they looked at each other in disbelief. In real time, they had encountered things that they never thought they would see or experience within the last 48 hours, and now, Gina had an order to erase everything she, Kevin and Makoto had told them, along with what they witnessed. She didn't want to do it, but she had to follow a rule by her organization. Kyon and Haruhi could not agree with their decision, especially Haruhi who had experienced the worst out of saving Yuki.

"But... why?" Haruhi asked almost in sorrow, "Why should I not know my secret personality? I've seen and discovered things I never knew. I've met people that I wanted to meet. I never knew what I had until Makoto and Kyon told me. Don't I have a right to know?"

Gina sighed. "You do Haruhi and I'm not disagreeing with you, but my organization doesn't believe that you can. I could ignore them and report to them that I erased your memory and Kyon's, but if you tell anyone about your personality or what you've seen and heard, even if you let it slip, my organization will eventually find out and it could hurt both you and me. That's why I have to do this."

Haruhi sat there distraught. She saw what she always wanted to see. She said it on the first day of high school that she wanted to meet espers, time travelers, aliens and sliders. Although she saw all of them so far, and Kevin to her was a slider that traveled from different dimensions, she knew her brigade consisted of these people based on what Makoto and Kyon told her. She experienced traveling between different time periods, making her and Kyon both sliders, and Makoto and Gina were actual time travelers. Now she had to face the fact that she wouldn't remember them or her experiences because of what Gina's organization commanded her to do.

"But it's not fair Gina." She said. Kyon couldn't disagree with Haruhi.

Kevin broke into the conversation. He knew Gina had to follow an order and Makoto tend to break rules when he had to follow them, but watching Haruhi in sorrow made him have sympathy for her. To gain awareness, witness several experiences and then have it taken away because of a stupid decision wasn't fair to Haruhi. Sure, some people would agree with Gina's organization, but he didn't.

"Hold on," Kevin said. Everyone within the room looked at him as he stood up and walked next to Gina. "Gina, I understand you have to follow protocol, but to take everything away Haruhi has seen away from her? Like I said earlier, secrets will reveal themselves down the road one way or another. And I think Haruhi wants to continue her life with the awareness of her personality and the fact that what she wanted exists in real life. I mean... Everyone has a choice Gina."

Although Kevin gave his short input to the situation, she didn't want him to butt in her organization's business. And because Haruhi knew too much, letting her go in her time period with the experience she faced in her past, the alternative dimension, their dimension and the trouble at the Entity irritated her.

"Kevin... Haruhi and Kyon have had a gun pointed at them. Armed men shot at them and abused them. They've seen things they shouldn't have seen. Engaged in things they _shouldn't_ have. And your advice is for them to continue on? I don't... I... _We_... can't do that. _I_ can't do that! I have rules to follow under my organization. Haruhi and Kyon have seen too much."

"Doesn't your organization believe in 'chance'?" Kevin responded, "Even if you erased her memory and Kyon's, there is the possibility she would find out eventually, maybe not from Kyon and Makoto, those other kids including Yuki, or from me or you, but she could find out later and there's nothing I, Makoto, or you and your organization can do about it. And if so, what would your organization do about it then? Why let sleeping gods lie? For the sake of sanity Gina, just report it that you reversed her back and let her continue her life. It's not too much to ask now is it?"

Gina thought about it as she stared at Haruhi. Haruhi mouthed the word "please" as Yuki looked at Gina while Kyon also looked at her, hoping she would let Haruhi proceed with her awareness of her secret personality. For months, Kyon believed that Haruhi could become a caring and gifted person and help others rather than demand things all the time. If there was hope, Gina could bend rules and allow her to continue and she could improve herself while keeping her secret personality hidden. Maybe she could do better for the world than trying to destroy it.

Makoto still stood by the side and let them dispute it over, for he didn't have a say in either's decision. Although he violated Gina's rules, Haruhi had to believe than be in denial. That explained why he had to tell her about her identity before they started that quest in saving Yuki.

After a while, Gina sighed while placing her hand on her face. "Okay... Fine. She can set forth in her time period with her secret personality."

Kyon and Haruhi made a sigh of relief.

"But Haruhi," Gina began, "You have to promise me that you won't tell _anyone_ about your personality. You only keep it between Kyon and Yuki. You don't tell that esper, you don't tell the time traveler, no one in your class, not your parents, _anyone_. Do you understand me Haruhi?"

"Yes Gina, I understand." Haruhi said. She could tell Gina was frustrated.

Gina extended her left hand and closed it while leaving her pinky finger stand out. "Pinky swear?" she asked.

Haruhi moved forward and entwined her pinky finger with Gina's, ensuring her she wouldn't tell anyone about her hidden personality.

"Okay Haruhi." Gina said as she sat back, "I'll report to my organization that the mission was a success and that I reversed your memory and Kyon's memory back. Just don't break the promise of releasing it, or it'll be a burden on me."

"I won't." Haruhi ensured her.

Gina stared at Kyon waiting for him to answer. "I understand." He responded.

She then looked at Yuki. "Understood." She answered.

Gina sighed. "Alright. Well, that's all we have to tell you." She stood up, prompting Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki to stand up as well. "After you change into the gakurans, we'll send you back to your time period. I hope things will get better. Good luck." She extended her hand towards Haruhi to shake it. Haruhi shook her hand. After several handshakes and bowels, including Haruhi thanking Kevin and hugging him for allowing Gina to let her in her time period with her secret, they set forth to change in their attire and prepared to go back to their world.

As Kevin activated the door at the top of the hill, Makoto and Gina walked with Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki back to the door as the sun was setting. Before they went, Kyon took Kevin aside while Haruhi and Nagato were not looking and told him about the incident where Nagato had lost connections to the Entity when they were on that mountain and later passed out at that mansion. He wanted to know if Nagato would experience that incident again and Kevin stated that it would not happen. A humanoid interface who lost connections to the Entity would not suffer a breakdown and become ill with a fever as in Nagato's case. Unless something was within that mansion like a sort of disrupter to cause her to have a breakdown, Kevin stated she would not breakdown but rather adapt to their surrounding environment until she ceased functioning. Based on what Kevin knew of her, she had a long way to live before she stopped functioning, so Kyon and Haruhi wouldn't have to worry about anything.

Arriving at the top of the hill, Makoto stopped them before they opened the door. "I have something to give you Haruhi." Makoto said as he went into his pocket and collected a long yellow ribbon. "You'll need it when you get back home."

Haruhi collected her ribbon from his hand and thanked him. As she did when they first came to the mansion, she tied her hair in a ponytail. Kyon and Makoto remembered to look away so she wouldn't catch them looking at her in awe.

"I don't care if you two look at me." Haruhi said. She wasn't as depressed like she was within the past 48 hours, but energetic like she used to be, or maybe different now since she was aware of her secret personality and there was a new energetic version of herself as she was smiling.

"Now when you get back," Gina began, "the date will be Sunday, March 6, 2011, two days in the past from where Makoto took you on Tuesday. When you got there from the Entity, there was an orange glow throughout the room. You're going back to that house but no one will be there. Originally, you arrived at 4:15pm when you came from the Entity but you'll go back when time is 4:10pm. It should give you enough time to get back home before dark, as the sun will set at 5:57pm. Like before, my organization made adjustments to the time period so all you'll have to do is go home and act as if you had fun."

Makoto broke in."And you don't have to worry about Koizumi and Asahina. They won't know anything except for the paranormal search that took place that Saturday, and Haruhi told you guys to have Sunday off."

Makoto walked forward as he put his hand on Kyon's shoulder as he looked at him and Haruhi. "You guys get along now. And remember what Gina told you. This is a new beginning for you three."

Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki nodded.

Before he stepped back, he pulled out a folded piece of paper out of his pants pocket and tucked it in Kyon's coat pocket. "When you get back, look at that note. Very important."

Kyon watched Makoto step back as Haruhi opened the door. With Yuki's hand in her left, Haruhi asked Kyon to come as he looked at Gina and Makoto. Gina nodded for Kyon to go on and he followed Haruhi into that room. Before Haruhi tried to close the door behind him, she touched his hand and Makoto closed the door, as she wanted everyone holding hands together. Walking a few steps into the dark room, a familiar voice from the hidden speaker within the room spoke out.

"_Are you guys in there yet?"_ Kevin said.

"Yes." Haruhi replied.

"_Okay Haruhi, Kyon and Yuki, I'll teleport you back home. As always, good luck and god speed!"_

"Thanks Kevin." Kyon replied.

A brief moment of silence filled the room until Kevin said, _"I'm giving you a five second countdown. Starting... now."_

This was the last time they would visit this dimension. The last time they would see Ethan, Isabella, Makoto, Kevin and Gina. Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki were together in that dark room when they experienced the same effect when they went to the Entity. The sound of rushing air combined with the wave of lightheadedness; the feeling of falling in thin air in a white light that faded to black, and then a light of oranges and yellows came into focus as they were inside that same living room they arrived after leaving the Entity. They returned home, just after they had been there five minutes later in the future.

All three of them opened their eyes at the same landscape of the living room. A blinded window to their left and an area of bookshelves and fake trees surrounded the opposite wall to the right along with the passageway into the next room. Behind them was the windowed décor door and TV, TV stand, elevated cabinets and the other passageway into the next room ahead was in front of them. They could hear the sounds of distant ambient noise and saw the colorful orange glow into the room. The fragments from their clothes on the floor by the TV were gone and the floor was clean.

"Well, we're here." Kyon said as he looked around. Haruhi was to his left and Yuki was next to her as they looked around at the furnishings of the room. Letting go, Kyon reached into the coat pocket to see the note Makoto handed him before they got there. It was a note on stationary folded in four squares.

"Is that the note?" Haruhi asked as she and Yuki got close.

Kyon turned the document on the other side until he saw the words "_From Makoto, Kevin and Gina_." "Yep. Makoto, Kevin and Gina left us a note." He said.

He unfolded the paper once and three small pieces of paper fell out. Haruhi picked them up and noticed they were tickets to ride the train for that day. Kyon unfolded the rest of the paper and saw a full page of lettering written entirely in Japanese. Haruhi and Yuki got closer to read the note in Kyon's hands.

_To Kyon, Haruhi, Yuki,_

_From Makoto: Again, we wanted to congratulate you for saving your friend. I know the real me wasn't there on the action, but I'm sure it was a fun and dangerous experience. It was a pleasure working with you guys and I hope you will succeed in life and have a great future. Remember, just play along with your parents on where you went and they will understand. A hint would be a business experience. Also, remember that it was Haruhi's choice to continue on while knowing her identity, and you and her along with Yuki must keep what you've seen to yourselves. If Koizumi, Asahina or anyone else found out, it could have horrible consequences. Don't worry about the confrontation between me, Koizumi and Asahina. They won't recall the incident that happened two days into the future and Gina's organization prepared their organizations so that they don't know what happened to Yuki, as they wouldn't have known anyway. –Far out_

_ From Gina: I wish you guys luck and a bright future ahead. To get out of the house, go through the room on the right, make a left to go down some stairs and the exit is straight ahead. Just remember Haruhi about what we discussed regarding your secret personality! And don't follow Makoto into not following rules. I guess that's what mercenary time travelers do. Hopefully, things will get better after this. –Good luck_

_From Kevin: Again, I'm sorry Kyon and Yuki for what happened regarding Asakura. I hope the road ahead for you, Haruhi and Yuki will be a blast. Thanks for the remaining time warp devices. To Haruhi: Be aware of the world around you and encounter those possibilities than live in a world of denial. That's why I went to bat for you against Gina. There is more to discover Haruhi, and you have a world to research and find new things. Put it to good use. I know you can. –Cheers_

After reading the note once more, they all looked at each other. Kyon folded the note and put it in his coat pocket as they tried to find their way out of the building.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32: Homebound**

Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki followed Gina's instructions and found the exit to the street below. The road they were on resembled a neighborhood setting of two-story housing units. Turning right from the exit, an intersection was straight ahead. They walked towards the intersection and didn't know where to go next until they heard the sound of a train to their right. As they walked towards the bridge where the train crossed and approached a road that paralleled the railroad, Haruhi realized what area they were in, as the railroad was a transit line near the station at the bottom of the hill. Haruhi recalled taking this train to and from places and recognized the bricked apartment unit with its balconies facing the rail line. That explained the reason why Makoto, Kevin and Gina left them transit tickets.

"That's the way to the station." Haruhi said, pointing to the right of the intersection.

They walked in silence on their way towards the train station. Haruhi was walking in the middle as Kyon was to her right, and Yuki was on her left. As they were midway from the station after leaving the house 10 minutes ago, Haruhi looked as if something was on her mind but she didn't know if to talk or stay silent. Yuki walked in silence and Kyon looked at the surrounding environment. As they were approaching the station about ten minutes later, Haruhi couldn't take it anymore and turned to face Yuki.

"Yuki, I need to ask you something." Haruhi said.

Yuki stopped and turned to face Haruhi. Kyon cold tell Haruhi was trying to say something, but he assumed she was trying to think before she spoke. Finally, she started talking.

"Why didn't you tell me something was wrong? We've been friends for a semester and you never speak up. Why did that organization tried to terminate you? I want you to tell me."

Yuki stood there with no expression of Haruhi questioning her about her disappearance. Kyon wasn't expecting Haruhi to ask Nagato that question, especially after he, Makoto and Gina had explained to her about why the Entity took her, unless she wanted to hear her side of the story. Haruhi recalled what Hatoyama had told her in that office but she didn't believe everything that man said and wanted to hear it directly from Yuki.

As usual, she looked at Kyon for approval but Haruhi noticed it and asked her again. "Yuki, this is me and you talking. I want you to tell me."

"I'm not authorized to tell you my termination, for it may result in the destruction of data within this dimension." She responded.

She was still taking like a humanoid by means of _"I'm not authorized"_ and _"destruction of data."_ Haruhi placed her hands on her shoulders. "Dammit Yuki! Can you stop acting like a humanoid and be a human for just once? Don't you think those around you care about you?"

Yuki looked at Haruhi straight on. Originally, she had an order not to tell Haruhi about her role in the universe or as to why the Entity attempted to punish her. And while Kyon and Haruhi had assisted the mercenary time traveler in saving her from her boss, they should not have been there to see the Entity, even if Makoto had forced them to join him. But since she did not have to follow protocol because she lost connections to the Entity when it was destroyed, she didn't know what to tell Haruhi. Because the Entity built her on limited social abilities, she wasn't as sociable like most humans. And since Haruhi still wanted to know about her termination, she tried to answer her with non-scientific reasoning.

"Near the end of December 2010, I changed the dimension because I wanted to live as a human girl. Because you are a being with special powers, errors that accumulated within me from emotions of humans made me steal your powers to change the world. I anticipated this to happen, but there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Because of my errors, the Integrated Data Sentient Entity threatened to terminate me for my actions. Kyon had threatened them that he would blackmail the Entity to keep me in this dimension; that you and him would create havoc to bring me back, but eventually, my boss did not accept and took me from the time period to begin my termination."

She took a moment as she lowered her head and then said, "I'm sorry Haruhi."

Kyon and Haruhi were shocked. Kyon was because ever since he met Nagato, she always spoke in the third person or referred to someone by their whole name, never by their first name. He guessed she apologized to Haruhi for causing the problem of getting her involved of saving her from her organization.

Haruhi on the other hand thought differently. When Kyon told her she changed the world, she did it where she was at North High while she and Koizumi were at Kouyouen. Both Kyon and Yuki said she took her powers to become a human girl, but Haruhi wondered if the reason Yuki changed the world was not to be a human girl, but instead to move Haruhi away from her. Haruhi recalled how she saw her alternate self looked as though she was in low in spirits when leaving that school, and that she was in high spirits around her brigade. Did that mean that Yuki didn't want her to exist around Kyon?

Haruhi let go of Yuki's shoulders and stepped back. "You didn't want me here?" she asked while making a depressed look.

_Oh shit,_ Kyon thought. To him, Haruhi had thought Yuki stole her powers to keep her away from him. He needed to break in this conversation now to correct Haruhi's blown-out-of-proportion assumption of Yuki's idea that she sent Haruhi to Kouyouen to stay away from Kyon. Jealously was indeed a bitch, and he didn't want to see Haruhi become angry at her own misinterpretation, not after she resorted back to her ecstatic self.

Before Nagato could respond, Kyon broke in. "Haruhi, now hold on a minute!" Kyon said as he placed his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She turned to face him but not completely, and he could see a scowl on her face, similar to the one Gina gave Makoto. "Nagato did this as an experiment. She _never_ did this to separate you from me. Honestly! And she didn't say she changed the world to hurt you or move you to another place, she did it to give me a choice."

He placed himself in front of her and kneeled down as he put his other hand on her other shoulder. He made sure to look directly at her and was careful in what he said so it would not backfire on him. "Remember what I told you back at the mansion about why she changed the world? She did it to give me a choice to live in a normal world. I told you I wanted to be in this time period. You saw how you were in the alternate dimension I went through. You weren't happy in that dimension. But in this one before the Entity took Nagato, you were happy. That's what's important Haruhi. Nagato didn't do this to hurt you... I _swear_ of it."

Haruhi stared at Kyon closely for a while before she looked at Yuki. Yuki must have read a question off her face because she responded with, "I only did this to see how he would react. I never conducted the experiment to hurt you. Neither did I do it to move you away. But it was this experiment that resulted in my near termination."

Haruhi looked at Kyon again and sighed. She almost lost it on the thought that Yuki had did the experiment to get closer to Kyon. How foolish she was to think of the wrong idea. She stared at Yuki again. "I'm sorry Yuki."

"There's no need to apologize Haruhi," She responded, "I understand."

Successfully preventing a near disaster, Kyon stood up and looked around at the environment around him. With the afternoon approaching evening, the sky started to glow with light blues with a hint of orange and yellow to the west and more people were approaching the train station.

"Let's get home before it gets too late." Kyon said to Haruhi and Yuki.

After agreeing, they walked towards the station.

After a 10 minute trip between the train station and Koyoen Station, they departed the train. The time on a clock read 5:00PM. Although Yuki refused for Kyon and Haruhi to walk her home, which was a short distance away, Haruhi ignored her and they walked with her to her apartment. After leaving her at the apartment and saying their goodbyes to her, Kyon and Haruhi walked back towards the train station until they approached an intersection and Haruhi stopped.

"Something wrong?" Kyon asked at Haruhi's sudden stop.

She looked down the road that slightly rose up a hill. "Home for me is this way." She said.

"Do you want me to... walk you home?" Kyon asked.

Haruhi looked at him funny. "We're not on a date Kyon! I can walk myself home. Besides, I think you would get lost."

"Oh… Sorry." He thought Haruhi wouldn't mind if someone walked with her back to her home so she would make it there safely. Then again, he didn't want to see any classmates from his school in this area seeing him and Haruhi together in gakurans or it would start a rumor at school tomorrow morning.

She noticed how she yelled at him and approached him while making a sigh. "Kyon, I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't have snapped at you." Haruhi said.

"I... understand." Kyon said. He noticed that Haruhi was a foot in front of him.

As a car passed by and an older gentleman walked by them towards the station, Haruhi slowly approached Kyon until he hovered over her as she stared at him. Kyon couldn't look away from her as a light breeze blew through her ponytail and ribbon. Gradually extending her hands forward, she touched both of his hands with hers as he accepted embracing her hands with his. For a second, he didn't realize what Haruhi had in mind until she started closing in on his face. He slowly moved towards her face, and while both of them closed their eyes as they got closer, their lips met in the middle. Any tension between them from the experiences of saving Yuki to almost dying at the Entity disappeared into thin air as Haruhi and Kyon kissed.

The train that was approaching the station rode by slowly as Kyon and Haruhi kissed, and as it passed the intersection, their lips departed and Haruhi rested her head on Kyon's chest as he wrapped his arms behind her back, and she wrapped her arms around his. She sighed and as Kyon saw, he thought he could see a smile on her face. As they embraced for another moment, a woman walked by and looked at them hugging one another, making her smile as she continued towards the direction of Yuki's apartment. Kyon was at a loss of words for experiencing this moment with Haruhi, and Haruhi could feel her heart beating faster as she blushed red in her cheeks. She never thought of herself as someone who had feelings for love, for they were a temporary lapse in judgment, but with the past few events and ordeals between herself and Kyon, this was a small exception to her opinion on love.

Haruhi and Kyon let go of one another and Kyon noticed her blushing red face and smile. She saw him blushing lightly too and smiling. Standing there for a moment, Haruhi finally spoke. "I'll see you tomorrow." She extended her hand as if to wave and walked up the road towards her neighborhood. Kyon stood there as he saw her walk up the road. Looking at the sky as the earlier colors of yellow and orange in the sky added a tone of pale blue as the sky to the east was approaching a dark, midnight blue, Kyon turned around and headed back towards the station, and from there he would head home. He didn't know if his bike was still by the station and began to think about something until he heard his name called out.

"Kyon!"

He turned around to see Haruhi running towards him. She approached him until there was a foot between them. "I have something I want to tell you." She said.

He noticed that Haruhi had that glowing face, as if something big would happen soon or that whatever she told him had a great significance.

She was straightforward. "I want you to pay more attention to me from now on. When we get back to school on Monday, I don't want to see you gawking at Mikuru or Yuki, or anyone else. Understand?"

She kept her word on what she would do once they got Yuki and that was for Kyon to see her more, but at the same time follow what the cloned Makoto told her to do regarding Kyon by giving him a chance, stop the bossiness, and for once listen to him. In order to get him to pay attention to her, she sought to make changes to herself. Maybe change her appearance and wear certain colors away from school on searches for starters as a method to make him attracted to her. Okay... maybe that was _too_ much change. She didn't want others to butt in her business when they sensed a change in her behaviors and approach her with dumb theories and spread stupid rumors. Alternately, she could make small and gradual changes to herself while maintaining her sense of mind. _That's it,_ she thought, _I'll make minor changes to myself and keep my sense of mind._

Kyon was astounded. He almost smiled but stopped it so Haruhi wouldn't take it the wrong way and responded with, "Yes, Haruhi. I will."

"And remember, no silly stuff!" she said while pointing at him.

He raised his hands. "Okay Haruhi, no silly stuff."

She made a smile, said "bye," and walked off energetically back towards the road at a fast pace towards her home. _Yep, she's changing_, Kyon thought. The only worry he had now was if her changing was a good thing or a bad one further into the months and likely years ahead. He knew Haruhi would get more close to Nagato to get her to open up, but he was hoping she wouldn't approach Koizumi and Asahina in the same manner and talk too much, or _he_ would be the one in trouble.

After finding his bike near the station untouched, Kyon got home a few minutes later as the sky became a darker blue as the yellows and oranges had faded away. As he got inside, he was expecting to tell his mom a story on why he had been gone for an unknown length of time, but as he got within the area of the living room and kitchen, his mom was cooking and his sister was working on her homework. His mom noticed him and approached him to hug him, along with his sister. Shamisen was nearby, and brushed against Kyon's legs. His mother or sister didn't seem to care about him wearing the gakuran until he found out what Gina had meant when she said that the past few days were taken care of.

Kyon learned that someone told his mother and sister a week ago that his class would engage in a formal field trip to a big university in the city over the weekend and an organization provided gakurans for the students to wear on the trip. He tried to play along and stated he had fun and gained some knowledge, but was so tired from the trip that he couldn't remember how the field trip was planned. His mother had told him that prior to the field trip last Wednesday before he got home that two people came to the house and were in charge for assisting the field trip. They said they were collecting signatures for the classmates to go on the trip and ensured her that both the school and university took care of everything. Confused, he asked his mother who came to the house for the signatures and he was stunned when she gave him their descriptions.

They both looked like Americans, as one was a Caucasian male with shoulder length brown hair, and the other was a light-skinned black female with long hair. His mother recalled about how she liked the dress the woman wore, the same one the time traveler had on when she, Makoto and Kevin came into that living room to salute them for saving Nagato. Kyon smiled, as he knew who they were: Kevin and Gina. He now knew what happened when she meant that her organization had "taken care of it."

ΛETO had modified the time plane in the past for their class to "attend a university." During the time he, Haruhi and the cloned Makoto were at the Entity, Kevin and Gina went to his house last Wednesday to tell his mother about the trip. Forwarding in time past the formal trip that occurred between Friday to Sunday, to the day Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki came back from the Entity; they walked into that living room minutes after Kyon, Haruhi and Yuki arrived from the Entity.

While Gina may not have told as much about her organization, and Makoto had told him and Haruhi in his opinion what they were capable of, Kyon had his own opinion. ΛETO existed as a superior organization over Koizumi's Agency, Asahina's organization, and the late Data Integration Thought Entity. On the other hand, Koizumi or Nagato would have had something under their sleeve to boost Haruhi's mood, but something like what he and Haruhi experienced was not from Nagato or Koizumi and in fact, was real.

After eating dinner and getting comfortable, he went into his closet and found his school outfit along with his schoolbag. Everything that was in the schoolbag on that Tuesday was in his bag now. It dawned on him that they did have homework over the weekend and while he looked through his notes and books, he discovered that someone had managed to match his handwriting and completed all of his work. For all he knew, Ethan, the real Makoto or the other woman had took the time to finish his homework in his handwriting before, during or after they were at the Entity.

As he charged his cell phone and noticed it could still work despite the series of time travelling trips, he sat on the bed and wondered about the future now that Haruhi would change and Nagato was safe from the no-longer-existing Entity. Matter of fact, when Haruhi kissed him, he wondered if it had made additional changes in their world than the ones after they had that nightmare once when he had to kiss her. As he thought about it, his sister stormed into the room with Shamisen. Before he could chase her out, he decided to ask her what happened that day Kevin and Gina came to the house. As she told Kyon about Kevin and Gina, and his "planned" trip, he learned of another discovery. When they were at the house telling his mother and her about the trip, his sister stated there was another man nearby standing against a sign as he was looking at the house. She recalled how he had long black hair, and had a fancy gadget on his left arm. To her, he looked suspicious but thought he was with man and woman, as he focused on them than the house. Kyon joked with her that she was seeing things, and although she admitted she saw him, Kyon knew who that person was. It was Makoto... The real Makoto Higashiyama.

As he got his sister out of his room and before he went to bed, his phone vibrated on the table, indicating that he received a text message. As he looked at the phone, it was a message from Haruhi.

_"Hey Kyon, were you told that we went on a field trip to a university?"_

_ "Yes."_ He replied.

She replied a minute later. _"I see. We have so much to do this week. See you tomorrow!" _

As Kyon went to sleep, he hoped that Haruhi would become a better person willing to give, be more open, and not tell her secrets to anyone to cause world destruction. She had started to believe things and believed what he told her, so he hoped that she would continue to believe him and gain his trust. He sort of liked this Haruhi now than the old Haruhi who was a grouchy misfit, but knew eventually, she could resort back to her old ways if she wanted to, and there was nothing Kyon could do about it but work with it.


	34. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Four months later...

As usual, it was another typical hot summer day, as it had been since July turned around the corner. Now in the middle of the week and with summer vacation starting tomorrow, Kyon and his entire class was listening to Okabe as he spoke at the front of the classroom about their summer assignment. The past few days were very hot and humid with hardly any relief in sight, but knowing Haruhi, she would not let a sweltering day prevent her Brigade to participate in some event. With their last session before the end of the day, Kyon took a moment to glance over his shoulder at Haruhi, making sure not to get her attention as he looked at her taking notes.

Since the trip four months ago where he, Haruhi and Makoto went to the Entity to save Nagato, Haruhi had significantly changed since then, and it was evident to him, the Brigade, and her classmates. Haruhi's hair for starters, which used to end at her shoulders, had grown to her back, almost similar to the way it was when she first started North High. As Kyon saw over that four month timeframe, she started to believe more and open her mind, she wasn't as bossy like she used to be, and she still had the determination to win as always in any event, no matter the circumstances. Kyon recalled about three months ago that Haruhi still had no emotions for love, yet that event where they kissed had brought them closer to each other. Even though there were times Haruhi still got on Kyon's nerves, they remained close and Haruhi continued to rely to Kyon for reasoning. One would consider that Kyon and Haruhi were engaged in a relationship—not to mention Taniguchi being a pain in the ass about a love relationship between them—but they were not lovers and eventually became close friends.

As Haruhi once described it, "What we went through made me aware of something. I feel we need to be close to one another. Even though saving Yuki proved difficult, you were there to protect me. No one else had been that close to me than you, and I thank you."

While Haruhi gradually changed, Nagato began to exhibit abilities Kyon had not seen in her after her attempted termination. She was still an alien, humanoid interface while pretending to observe Haruhi, and told Kyon a few months back that she had managed to recover some files referring to her mission for humanity and Haruhi while the ones pertaining to the Entity and her deceased boss were long gone. Her speech had changed, and she engaged in verbal, non-scientific conversation that one could now comprehend, but she still had a monotone voice. With the help of Haruhi trying to get Nagato to open up and be more human, she tried to teach her emotions as much as she could. Even though Kevin had suggested that Yuki was better off without them, and despite Haruhi's efforts, Nagato still lacked emotions. She had approached Kyon one day to ask if it was better to wish for Yuki to be a human. While it was a difficult decision to make because of the risks Kevin had said that one time, he told her to reconsider what he had said and to make a decision that would not hurt Nagato or them in the future.

Kyon did question Nagato the day after they came back if she was disappointed in the fact that Haruhi was aware of her powers and that he disobeyed her command not to tell Haruhi about her existence on Earth. She hadn't said anything when they were at the Entity or when she and Haruhi had that discussion, and he wanted to know since she had that straight-faced look on her face. Surprisingly, Nagato said she was "somewhat disappointed" for Haruhi learning about her powers and her existence but she understood. As long as he and Haruhi didn't say anything to Koizumi or Asahina or the entire school, and since the Entity wasn't observing her, she would continue to note occurrences around Haruhi and report them only to him. He said "okay" with some concern in order for her to say something else but she continued to be deep in the book she was reading.

Of course, Koizumi came up to Kyon about Haruhi and Nagato's change. About Haruhi, Koizumi had said, "It had been a while since I've seen Haruhi change like this. I remember our discussion that December before that incident about how Haruhi was changing, but this is a successful improvement. Yet, my organization is trying to understand what has made her reflect a positive light, but I think I know how she's changing." He said with that grin of his. When the conversation moved to Nagato, he suspected that she changed that December, and continued changing after March, but wondered if the Entity was aware of it.

While Asahina noticed the changes occurring with Haruhi and Nagato, she didn't have an explanation for the change, and she still couldn't tell Haruhi's future to Kyon for it was "classified information." However, Asahina respected their changes in personality and as she observed, Yuki wasn't staring at her like she used to. She did tell Kyon that it occurred to her that she wasn't trying to be like her, but rather she was "trying to be herself." Hopefully, Nagato was following what Kevin had told her about being herself and not anticipating on being perfect. As for Haruhi, she no longer forced her in revealing outfits and asked her what kind of outfits she preferred to wear in the clubroom.

Speaking of Koizumi and Asahina, both of them still did not know that the Entity no longer existed. Just as Gina's organization had planned, when they came back that day on Monday in March, Koizumi and Asahina didn't notice anything, and for the next four months, they were still here to observe Haruhi. Kyon assumed that their organizations did not communicate with each other or to other organizations such as the Entity. It had been long enough that one of them should have alerted Kyon with disturbing news about the Entity but did not, meaning they were unaware of the quest Kyon and Haruhi put themselves into by saving her in that three-day gap back in March. Koizumi had said that there were still issues with Closed Space, but they began to die down last month, and appeared to start again just last week. Koizumi said the instances were possibly from dreams or nightmares Haruhi had in her sleep, but when Kyon relayed this to Haruhi—when striking up a conversation about dreams—he found out she wasn't having nightmares and instead was having pleasant and interesting dreams.

As for Kyon, he started to do better in school and still had to participate in events that Haruhi got the SOS Brigade involved in. The events that he encountered when he fired those guns at those guards at the Entity had managed to fade away, and he had not thought about his actions then for those four months and got though each month with no change in behavior or disturbing nightmares. There really was no need to erase his memory of what he engaged in when helping Makoto that time while saving Haruhi. He had experienced Asakura almost killing him and the feeling of dying in that alerted time plane, so as long as Nagato or Haruhi didn't bring it up, it was like an event he couldn't remember.

As they were in that classroom now, he, Haruhi, Koizumi and Nagato were now juniors and Asahina was a senior. He wondered what Haruhi would do if Asahina graduated next April, and would her organization replace her with someone else to monitor Haruhi. While next April was nine months away, which gave lots of time for Haruhi to do something, Kyon had to ask her what she would do if Asahina graduated and had to leave the SOS Brigade. She proved that the SOS Brigade would not be the same without Nagato, and if Asahina were to leave, Haruhi would find some way to keep her in the Brigade, even if she was no longer a student of North High.

As the day ended and Kyon and Haruhi left class to head to the clubroom for their last meeting, Haruhi needed a suggestion on what to do during the summer. "Hey Kyon, do you have any ideas for this summer break?"

He tried to think of something for them to do and couldn't think of anything. He was concerned about a repeat of the Endless Eight that they did last summer.

"There's something we can do this summer," Haruhi said, "I wouldn't mind another vacation to an island. Oh! Like going to an island and something mysterious happens! Like a mystery or horror. Or maybe investigate that abandoned Hotel of spirits they've talked about in the media recently? What do you think about that?"

Before, Kyon would have not considered either, but since this was typical of Haruhi, it wouldn't hurt to go to another island. As for that abandoned Hotel of spirits, well... maybe not.

"Island... abandoned Hotel... I'd go with the mystery island. How about that?" Kyon replied.

"That was a suggestion, and we already experienced a mystery island. Let's do the abandoned Hotel. Who knows what we could cover."

"Abandoned Hotel it is." He said with enthusiasm. As long as Haruhi had fun and the world wasn't in danger, it was worth the chance.

They got to the clubroom as Haruhi walked in first with Kyon behind her. "Hello!" said Asahina in the nurse outfit. Five different cups containing tea were on the aluminum tray. "I made Kukicha. I hope it's good."

"Good afternoon." Koizumi said. Nagato turned towards Kyon and Haruhi and nodded. Kyon noticed that he and Nagato were playing chess. A noticeable change in Nagato that started about two months ago was that she spent time engaged in playing board games with Koizumi more than reading books, and based on the game so far, Nagato was beating Koizumi.

Haruhi and Kyon took their seats as Asahina placed cups in front of them and next to Koizumi and Nagato before taking her cup to her seat. It was too hot to drink tea but drinking Asahina's tea still lifted Kyon's spirit.

"It's so hot in here." Haruhi said. The hot and humid weather had been this way for weeks and Haruhi was still bragging about wanting an air conditioner.

Focused on the meeting, Haruhi was the first to speak as Koizumi placed the chessboard and pieces back in the box. "Okay. So were now at another summer vacation and I can't decide on what to do over the summer. I told Kyon about that Abandoned Hotel of spirits. Is there anything you guys want to do?"

Hearing about a hotel of spirits made Asahina squeak as she almost dropped her cup out of her hands. "H-Hotel of... spirits?" she asked.

"Uh huh," Haruhi chirped, "I heard about this hotel near an area of ancient castle ruins. Someone tried to build it but the construction angered the spirits and something happened to the workers. I think we should see that hotel. Maybe we will see one of the spirits."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea." Koizumi said. Of course, he was doing what he does best.

"Uuuuhhhh." Asahina said with concern. Haruhi's idea of going to a haunted hotel with spirits sounded dangerous.

"Perfect! Then we can plan a trip to see the haunted hotel. Koizumi... Do you think you can find a way for us to get there?"

"I will look into it." He responded.

"Great! Anyone else have any ideas?" Haruhi asked as she looked around the room.

Before anyone could speak, there was a knock on the door. All five of them turned towards the door and could see a shadow behind the windowed door. It was hard to make out who was behind the door but the shape of the shadow seemed to resemble that of a girl. Haruhi was hoping it wasn't someone from the Student Council again, as the president came by a month ago warning Haruhi to get approval for her club, as they were in the works of voting for a new president, or the SOS Brigade would be thrown out of the room. Whether they were representing the old Literature club or the SOS Brigade, the newly elected president—whoever replaced the current one—could shut down the Brigade if they weren't approved as a group. Alternately, it was someone thinking about joining the Brigade but it was a little late as summer vacation started tomorrow. Either way, Haruhi didn't want to reject who was at the door and asked for them to come in.

As the door opened and the person in the doorway became visible, the entire room went silent. As Koizumi and Asahina both smiled and said hello to the girl standing in the doorway, the look on Haruhi, Kyon and Nagato's faces changed drastically once they saw the girl in the doorway. And there was a reason why Haruhi and Kyon now had a shocked look on their face while Nagato stared at the girl hard.

The girl in the doorway was about Haruhi's height and she had her schoolbag draped around her left shoulder. A black headband was in her light auburn hair that was in a wavy kawaii hairstyle that flowed down to her shoulders. She had maroon red eyes and had a monotone expression. Without the brown jacket, she was in her summer school outfit. She looked very familiar, and in fact, three people in that room knew they had seen this person before, but not in this dimension.

_Oh, my god,_ Haruhi thought. _Why is she here?_

_It can't be,_ Kyon thought. _How did she get here?_

"..."

The girl in the doorway was the same one who tried to choke Kyon when he tried to fire that gun at the blonde haired woman at the Entity. The same one Haruhi saw standing next to the blonde haired woman in that office when she met Yuki's boss. Moreover, she was the same one who engaged in a fight with Yuki in that laboratory and lost. Kyon and Haruhi had learned the name of that girl days after they came back to their time period in March. That following Wednesday after school, Haruhi dismissed Koizumi and Asahina early so she, Kyon and Yuki could talk about those two "superhumans" she and Makoto fought. While Yuki never got the name of the blonde haired woman, she did get the name of the girl in the North High uniform.

Her name was Kamiko Maruyama, _another alien, humanoid and dangerous interface._

"Hello," she said, "Sorry if it's late but I transferred here a month ago and I heard this group is interested in paranormal stuff. I wanted to know if there was room for another member." She spoke softly like that one girl once did, and she did not have a monotone voice.

While Koizumi said it was up to Haruhi to make decisions, he and Asahina looked towards Haruhi but were confused as Haruhi's look changed from energetic to disbelief. They then noticed that Kyon shared the same look while Nagato was staring at the girl hard. For a second, silence continued to float around the room as Haruhi hadn't said anything yet.

"Uh... Miss Suzumiya?" Koizumi said. Asahina became concerned when she didn't respond.

Haruhi didn't pay attention to Koizumi. She stared at Kyon as he stared at her while Nagato continued to look at the girl with a straight face. Between the two of them, an immediate question came to mind: If Yuki had disabled this girl, and the bomb destroyed the Entity with her in it, how did she manage to get into _this_ dimension? And while Haruhi always wanted more members to make up her Brigade, how could she tell this girl she _wasn't_ allowed to join?

For the girl standing in the doorway, she knew there was a high possibility that Haruhi Suzumiya would accept her to join her Brigade. From there, she could proceed with her plan. But if Haruhi refused her acceptance into the group, there was always plan B.

* * *

><p><strong>So that concludes <strong>_**The Endangerment of Yuki Nagato**_**. I have to tell you, when I wrote this story, it wasn't easy to write. A sequel would have to explain several things that were unanswered throughout the story (in Chapter 32); however, it will be a preview of one. As for the "Abandoned Hotel of Spirits," this is based of the Takara Hotel in Nakagusuku, Okinawa, Japan.**


End file.
